Nigeria’s $92 billion virtual asset market, built overwhelmingly by young Nigerians and now the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa, risks being driven offshore by the new guidelines on the taxation of virtual assets, a pressure group, the Digital Assets Coalition, has warned.
In its formal position paper on the framework of the new guidelines, which came into force on 3 August 2026, the Coalition, at the weekend, objected to the charges on the gross movement of money rather than on any profit earned.
The industry alliance representing digital-asset participants and operators in Nigeria, opens the paper, titled: “Tax the Profit, Not the Movement of Money”, with an unambiguous statement of support for taxation.
However, it said it backs taxing real gains, registering platforms, verifying customers, and requiring full transaction reporting, in line with the standards of the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil.
It said it is objecting to the charges on the gross movement of money rather than on any profit earned.
The first, it said, is a 1.5% stamp duty on every conversion between naira and digital assets, never refunded and charged whether a person gains or loses. The second is a 1% withholding deducted from the entire value of every sale, even where the seller made a loss.
A third concern is the requirement to remit taxes in tokens, which is inconsistent with the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, whose Section 39 mandates payment in currency.
“We support the taxation of virtual assets without qualification,” said Obinna Iwuno, spokesperson of the Digital Assets Coalition.
“Our concern is with a design choice that taxes the movement of money itself. This charge falls on a remittance to a student abroad, on a freelancer converting earnings already taxed as income, and on a trader in a year they lost money. That is not a tax on profit. It is a toll on participation.”
