The Senate has advanced the Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulation Bill 2026 to second reading, with lawmakers warning that failure to regulate cryptocurrency and digital assets is driving billions in investment, jobs and revenue underground.
The bill, sponsored by the 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, said Nigeria has consistently lagged behind other African nations in regulating digital finance.
He described crypto and virtual assets as “compulsion in the new world order,” arguing that Nigeria must act now or be left behind.
“There are three challenges if we don’t regulate. One, it goes under the table into a black market. Two, it is opaque and allows for all kinds of criminal activities. Three, it undermines the digital economy’s contribution to the $1 trillion target of President Tinubu’s administration,“ he said
Senator Barau said Nigeria now leads Africa in virtual asset adoption, but lack of regulation has created critical risks.
He explained that 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. It seeks to create clear rules that bring order, confidence, accountability and consumer protection,“ Barau said.
In one of the most emotional contributions, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) 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,. 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 peace,“ she disclosed.
Akpoti-Uduaghan 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.”
Also contributing, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, (Edo North), backed the bill, saying prolonged debate was unnecessary.
“Whatever needs to be said has been said. Everything suggests that this is self-evident. We don’t need to overdo it. I suggest that we proceed to support this bill to go through,” he said.
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. We need one clear, joined-up view of how the entire digital finance industry should be regulated,” he said
In his remarks after the debate, the Deputy Senate President who presided over the plenary said “players within the ecosystem should be protected by law so that nobody will be cheated and nobody will cheat anybody.”
The Senate accordingly resolved that the bill should proceed to second reading and committed it to the Senate Committee on Capital Market for further legislative scrutiny and 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.
