Nigeria’s 2026 tax laws hit Bitcoin holders with up to 25% capital gains tax and slap VASPs with 30% corporate tax. Here’s what changed.
Nigeria quietly rewrote the rules for every Bitcoin holder inside its borders. The Nigerian Tax Reform Bills signed into law on June 26, 2025, took full effect on January 1, 2026. Four separate bills. One sweeping overhaul.
The government collected over $276 million from digital payments alone in the first 11 months of 2025, per data on the electronic money transfer levy under the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA) 2025. That number tells the story before the story begins.
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What Bitcoin Holders Owe Starting Now
Bitcoin is now taxed as a security. Profits from transacting with digital assets carry a tax of up to 25% as “chargeable gains.” That replaced the old 10% capital gains rate from the Finance Act of 2022. More than double.
Citizens self-report income under a tiered progressive system. The maximum marginal rate sits at 25% on the highest band. Loss deductions are permitted, similar to how the US handles securities losses.
Nigeria’s regulators are not relying on self-declaration to verify what people report. The government plans to use Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) and National Identification Numbers (NINs) to track digital asset transactions in real time, per TechCabal’s analysis of the Nigerian Tax Administration Act 2025. Banking and fintech platforms must collect employment information and salary details under expanded KYC and AML requirements.
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The Rules That Could Break Nigerian VASPs
Virtual Asset Service Providers face a 30% corporate tax on profits from digital asset operations. That applies mainly to transaction fees.
VASPs must now obtain a TIN. They must register with the Nigerian Revenue Service, file monthly returns, and disclose transaction types, amounts, and full customer information, including names, addresses, TINs, and NINs. Suspicious activity reporting is mandatory.
Non-compliance carries penalties of up to 10,000,000 naira, roughly $7,200, in the first month of default. Every month, after adds around $720 more. The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission holds the authority to suspend or revoke licenses outright.
Quidax already felt the pressure. The exchange shut down its P2P service after five months, the Forbes report on the 2026 tax laws noted, despite operating inside the SEC’s regulatory sandbox under its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme. A warning sign for other players.
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Surveillance Risk Nobody Is Talking About
TINs and NINs together link biometric data, sensitive personal information, and financial activity to individual Nigerians. The government can tie digital asset flows to real people without needing blockchain forensics tools.
That is a significant capability shift.
Nigeria still leads the continent in Bitcoin and stablecoin adoption by transaction volume, according to the Chainalysis 2025 report. The new regime does not slow that adoption. It formalizes it, tracks it, and taxes it.
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Africa Watches What Nigeria Does Next
Morocco is already signaling moves toward digital asset regulation. Other African countries are watching Nigeria’s rollout closely, according to the Forbes analysis. Nigeria’s path from a 2021 Bitcoin ban to a full security classification and tax regime in 2025 is a case study no regulator on the continent can ignore.
The government’s target is to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio from under 10% to 18% by 2027. Bitcoin holders and VASPs are now part of that equation. Formally. With monthly filings to prove it.
