Nigeria: Africa’s biggest crypto market risks shrinking under new tax rules

Published on August 17, 2026 at 07:00 am (GMT +1)

The Nigeria government’s move to bring cryptocurrency more firmly into the tax net risks weakening Africa’s largest digital-asset market and pushing transactions beyond regulators’ reach, according to industry operators and a Big Four tax firm.

New guidelines issued by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) introduce a 1.5% stamp duty on virtual asset transfers, which operators say could trigger significant capital flight to unregulated foreign platforms.

“The risk is that most of the unregulated platforms people will move to are foreign platforms,” Obinna Iwuno, spokesperson for Digital Assets Coalition, an alliance of industry operators, tells The Africa Report. “Many foreign platforms still offer services to Nigerians without any oversight or recognition by the regulator. In the end, Nigeria stands to lose the most.”

He points to countries such as India, which experienced similar capital flight after imposing harsh crypto taxes, and Kenya, which eventually scrapped similar proposals. 

Crypto-asset inflows in jeopardy 

The new rules come at a time when digital assets have become deeply entrenched in the economy of Africa’s most populous nation.