Nigeria Issues First Guidelines on Taxing Crypto and Virtual Assets

The framework identifies taxable events such as buying, selling, exchanging or disposing of digital assets. It also addresses income earned through activities including mining rewards, staking income, airdrops and decentralised finance (DeFi) rewards, as well as payments received in virtual assets. Gains from virtual asset transactions are treated as taxable income under Nigeria's new tax laws.

Taxpayers and service providers are required to maintain transaction records, file relevant tax returns, and determine taxable income using the fair market value of virtual assets on the date each transaction takes place. VASPs and P2P operators face reporting, record-keeping and compliance obligations for transactions conducted on their platforms, and licensed providers must register with the NRS and provide information to tax authorities on request.

TechCabal reported that the obligations are set out in line with the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025.

The European Central Bank has introduced Pontes, a settlement system linking its payment infrastructure to blockchain-based markets, with full implementation targeted for 2028.