For years, businesses dealing with crypto and digital assets in Nigeria operated without clear legal guidance. The industry was growing, and people were using crypto every day, but the laws had not fully recognized or regulated it. That changed on March 25, 2025, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Investments and Securities Act 2025 (ISA 2025) into law.
ISA 2025 is a major update to Nigeria’s investment and securities laws. It brings the country’s rules closer to international standards and provides clearer regulations for areas that were previously unclear, including digital assets and cryptocurrency. For anyone running or building a crypto or fintech business in Nigeria, this is the most important law you need to understand right now.
The Old Reality vs. The New One
Before ISA 2025, Nigeria’s approach to crypto regulation was unclear and spread across different government agencies. In 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria directed banks to stop processing transactions linked to cryptocurrency exchanges. Although owning or trading crypto was not illegal, it became difficult for users and businesses to access banking services. As a result, many people turned to peer-to-peer (P2P) trading, informal payment methods, and foreign crypto platforms.
Crypto use continued to grow in Nigeria, but there were no clear laws governing the industry. Investors had limited legal protection, exchanges did not have a clear licensing framework, and different government agencies shared regulatory responsibilities, creating uncertainty for businesses and users.
That period is now over. The new law marks the clearest regulatory framework Nigeria has ever given the sector. It gives the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wide-ranging authority over the issuance, trading, and promotion of digital assets, legalising crypto under capital market rules.
What Changed: The Big Picture
Yes, crypto is now legally recognized. For the first time, there is a clear legal definition of a crypto asset: it is a digital representation of value used for payment or investment. The act of owning, trading, and investing in crypto is no longer a legal grey area.
Under the ISA 2025, a digital asset is defined as “a digital token that represents assets such as a debt or equity claim on the issuer” and includes any asset issued on a blockchain. This definition captures cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether, stablecoins, security tokens, and potentially tokenised real-world assets used as investments or that hold trading value.
The distinction matters: crypto is legal, but the Naira remains the only legal tender. What changed is that building a business around digital assets is now fully lawful.
The SEC is now the apex regulator.
Section 357 of ISA 2025 legally classifies virtual assets as securities. This gives the SEC full statutory authority to license, supervise, and sanction all crypto operators in Nigeria. The SEC can now monitor the activities of securities exchanges, conduct audits, impose penalties, suspend company operations, and even remove their executives.
Nigeria was removed from the FATF grey list
This is worth noting as context. In October 2025, Nigeria was removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, a direct signal to global markets that the country had made significant progress in anti-money laundering and financial compliance. ISA 2025 was a key part of that progress. For businesses, this matters because it reduces friction when dealing with international banking partners and global payment rails.
What Is Now Explicitly Permitted
This is where it gets practical. Before ISA 2025, several key activities had no legal framework at all. Here is what the law has now opened up clearly:
- Running a crypto exchange or trading platform: ISA 2025 explicitly empowers the SEC Nigeria to regulate virtual and digital asset exchanges. Crypto exchanges are now explicitly treated as regulated market infrastructure under Nigerian law. That explicit recognition is new. Before this, operating an exchange meant living under constant regulatory ambiguity.
- Custodial services: Offering to hold or manage digital assets on behalf of users is now a recognized business category with a defined licensing path through the SEC.
- Token issuance: The Act also grants the SEC oversight of token issuers, including meme coin creators and projects raising funds through utility or investment-based coins. This means token launches can now happen within a legal framework rather than outside it.
- NFT projects with a financial component: If you are a digital artist selling a 1-of-1 piece of art as an NFT, the SEC generally leaves you alone. However, if you launch an NFT project that promises returns, dividends, or functions like a stock, it is classified as a financial product and requires the same licensing as a brokerage.
- Tokenised securities and blockchain-based investment products: ISA 2025 opens the door for regulated digital asset products such as tokenised securities, NFTs, and blockchain-based investment instruments, under clear statutory protection.
What Your Business Needs to Have in Place
SEC registration is not optional
Virtual Asset Service Providers, Digital Asset Operators, and Digital Asset Exchanges are now required to register and obtain authorization from the SEC.
Under ISA 2025, all VASPs must register with the SEC. Operating without a license is a statutory violation carrying serious financial and legal penalties.
The registration process has three phases
All promoters of any initial digital asset offerings within Nigeria or targeting Nigerians are required to comply with the SEC’s mandatory initial assessment filing before applying for the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP). To comply with the initial assessment filing, VASP promoters are required to complete and submit an assessment form and draft a white paper providing details of the digital assets offering and information about the issuer.
A successful participation in ARIP would entitle the VASP applicant to apply to the SEC for registration, and the applicant would be issued registration if it meets the requirements.
Foundational business requirements
To legally operate as a VASP, your company must be fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in Nigeria. You must maintain a physical office within Nigeria. The CEO or Managing Director must reside in Nigeria, ensuring local oversight and accountability.
AML and KYC are now mandatory by law
AML and KYC compliance become mandatory obligations for every licensed crypto business under ISA 2025. This is no longer a best practice. It is a legal requirement backed by enforcement powers.
Licensing requirements include robust governance, technology risk management, AML/CFT controls, investor protections, capital adequacy, and reporting systems. Your compliance infrastructure needs to reflect this before you go near the licensing process.
Foreign businesses targeting Nigerian users are also in scope
Under the ARIP framework, the scope includes persons providing virtual asset services to Nigerians regardless of physical location, and foreign or non-resident operators that actively target Nigerian investors. If your platform serves Nigerian users from outside Nigeria, you are not exempt.
The Bottom Line
ISA 2025 is good news for crypto businesses in Nigeria. It provides more clarity and certainty for the industry. Digital assets are now officially recognized by law, crypto exchanges have a clear regulatory framework, and investors have stronger legal protections. Regulators can better oversee the market, businesses have a clearer path to operating legally, and users can participate with greater confidence.
The SEC can now freeze accounts, seize assets, and remove executives. The businesses that come out ahead are the ones that get their SEC authorization done before enforcement becomes the reminder. If you are building something serious in the Nigerian digital assets space, now is the time to get your structure right, start your SEC engagement early, and take the licensing process seriously.
Breet Business is already built on that foundation: a licensed platform where Nigerian and Ghanaian businesses can send, receive, and convert crypto without worrying about whether the platform they are using can survive the new regulatory environment. For more on how to buy, sell, and manage crypto safely, book a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is crypto legal in Nigeria under ISA 2025?
Yes. Crypto is legal in Nigeria under ISA 2025, but is not legal tender. Nigerians can trade and invest freely, and all platforms must be SEC-licensed and KYC-compliant to operate lawfully.
What businesses are regulated under ISA 2025?
The regulation covers four types of players: Virtual Asset Service Providers, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Offering Platforms, and Digital Asset Custodians. If your business falls into any of these categories, you need SEC authorization to operate legally.
Does ISA 2025 apply to crypto businesses based outside Nigeria?
Yes. The regulatory logic is activity-based, not incorporation-based. The scope includes persons providing virtual asset services to Nigerians regardless of physical location, and foreign or non-resident operators that actively target Nigerian investors.
What happens if you operate without a license?
Operating without a license carries real consequences: the SEC can now freeze bank accounts, seize business assets, and remove company executives. This is not a theoretical risk.
