Senate moves to protect crypto’s $1trn economy

The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday advanced the Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulation Bill 2026 to second reading, with lawmakers warning that failure to regulate cryptocurrency and digital assets is pushing billions in investment, jobs and revenue underground. The bill, sponsored by Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, seeks to establish “a legal, regulatory and supervisory framework […]

The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday advanced the Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulation Bill 2026 to second reading, with lawmakers warning that failure to regulate cryptocurrency and digital assets is pushing billions in investment, jobs and revenue underground.
The bill, sponsored by Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, seeks to establish “a legal, regulatory and supervisory framework for virtual assets, digital assets and virtual asset service providers in Nigeria” and mandate licensing, transparency and compliance for all crypto exchanges operating in the country.
Leading the debate, Senator Tahir Monguno, who read the bill on behalf of the sponsor, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, who was the presiding officer, told the chamber that Nigeria has consistently lagged behind other African nations in regulating digital finance.
Senators supporting the bill said it will protect honest citizens from scams and exploitation while safeguarding jobs created by millions of Nigerian youths trading and building on crypto platforms.
They described crypto and virtual assets as “compulsion in the new world order,” arguing that Nigeria must act now or be left behind, as lawmakers cite fraud, job losses and $1trn economy risk.
Senator Barau said Nigeria now leads Africa in virtual asset adoption, but lack of regulation has created three critical risks.
The bill aligns Nigeria with global standards set by the Financial Action Task Force, FATF, and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and proposes mandatory licensing for all Virtual Asset Service Providers, VASPs.
“This bill does not seek to stifle innovation,” the sponsor insisted, adding, “It seeks to create clear rules that bring order, confidence, accountability and consumer protection.”
In her contribution, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan shared how lack of regulation is forcing Nigerian tech entrepreneurs abroad.
“My 20-year-old son has a gaming platform with about 100,000 real-time players globally,” she told the Senate.
“He lets me know time after time that he can’t do that in Nigeria because the gaming servers that offer backend support are not hosting in Nigeria. Recently they opened up for South Africa, but they are yet to do so in Nigeria. The reason? We do not have the regulations in place.”

 

She warned that Nigeria is losing billions in potential investment: “There is a lot of investment in the virtual space now that runs into almost billions of dollars. Young people are creating jobs and earning a living from gaming and other virtual services. It will be out of place if we don’t put regulations in place,” she said.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Edo North, backed the bill quickly, saying prolonged debate was unnecessary.

“Whatever needs to be said has been said,” Oshiomhole said.

“Everything suggests that this is self-evident. We don’t need to overdo it. There is always something beautiful – we don’t do too much makeup. I suggest that we proceed to support this bill to go through.”

Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, Lagos East, urged the Senate to harmonize the crypto bill with recent financial laws including the Investments and Securities Act and the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act, BOFIA.

“If we regulate crypto in isolation, we will create confusion,” Abiru said, adding, “We need one clear, joined-up view of how the entire digital finance industry should be regulated.”

 

After debate, the Deputy Senate President summed up the chamber’s position: “You’ve spoken eloquently about the need to create a legal framework to regulate or to protect investors in the virtual assets ecosystem. This is good in order to make sure that this new innovation in our economy brings attributes that will promote the nation. Players within the ecosystem should be protected by law so that nobody will be cheated and nobody will cheat anybody.”

The Senate resolved that the bill should proceed to second reading and committed it to the Senate Committee on Capital Market for further legislative scrutiny. The committee is expected to report back within four weeks.

 

If passed into law, Nigeria will join Kenya, South Africa and Ghana with clear crypto regulations, and regulators will gain powers to license exchanges and act against fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing.