The Central Bank of Nigeria issued regulations for non-security virtual assets, setting licensing and reserve requirements for stablecoin issuers and other covered crypto service providers. The rules took effect upon issuance, but existing operators have 180 days to apply for licenses or authorizations.
Stablecoin issuers must fully back their tokens with reserves, hold an additional buffer of at least 2% of their value, and keep at least 40% of reserves in cash or qualifying highly liquid assets. Minimum paid-up capital is 10 billion naira for naira-backed issuers and 15 billion naira for foreign currency-backed issuers; companies providing payment-related crypto services must hold at least 1 billion naira. The rules prohibit stablecoins that rely primarily on algorithms rather than eligible reserves, as well as tokens without enforceable redemption rights.
