President Bola Tinubu recently urged Nigeria’s judiciary to embrace cryptocurrency literacy, signaling a potential shift for a nation navigating the complexities of innovation and regulation. This call, delivered through Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima at a workshop for judges and justices organized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Judicial Institute (NJI), acknowledges the digital evolution of crime and commerce. The President emphasized the need for courts to understand blockchain and digital assets to effectively handle sophisticated financial crimes.
However, Senator Ihenyen, Lead Partner at Infusion Lawyers and Executive Chair of the Virtual Asset Service Providers Association (VASPA), believes this focus, while welcome, overlooks a critical aspect. Ihenyen stated that the President’s message highlights a crucial recognition that traditional judicial methods are insufficient for the digital age.
Yet, he cautioned that concentrating on crypto literacy solely from a crime-fighting perspective risks perpetuating a stereotype that frames Nigeria's crypto ecosystem as a criminal enterprise rather than a source of opportunity.
"Based on the reality of crypto adoption and the licensing regime in Nigeria presently, I think the position articulated in the speech is insufficiently holistic," Ihenyen commented. "It risks resulting in reactionary approaches rather than building a more solid foundation for effective enforcement."
Nigeria’s Crypto Journey: A Global Leader Facing Regulatory Challenges
Nigeria's cryptocurrency narrative is marked by global leadership in grassroots adoption, despite persistent regulatory hurdles. The country consistently ranks among the top markets for this digital asset class.
According to Chainalysis's latest Geography of Cryptocurrency report, Nigeria received $92.1 billion in on-chain value between July 2024 and June 2025, accounting for nearly half of Sub-Saharan Africa's total. For millions of Nigerians, including freelancers, small businesses, and young tech-savvy individuals, cryptocurrency serves as a vital survival strategy, not merely a tool for illicit activities.
"Crypto adoption in the country is not the story of crime, but a story of resilience; of grassroots connection," Ihenyen explained. "Are there bad actors and criminals? Of course, as with other countries in the world. But Nigeria is a global leader in grassroots crypto adoption, often ranking among the top countries worldwide."
The drivers behind this widespread adoption are primarily economic, not illicit. "This adoption is largely in response to macroeconomic factors and certain frictions in financial access," he elaborated. "Nigerians use crypto for legitimate purposes like investments, payments, remittances, cross-border trade, and participating in the global digital economy. These legitimate uses cry out for smart regulation, not reactions."
This distinction is significant. Ihenyen expressed concern that if judicial education focuses exclusively on the forensics of crypto fraud, it will reinforce what he terms Nigeria's "negative enforcement and regulatory bias."
"If judges only view crypto as an instrument of fraud," he stated, "their rulings could inadvertently stifle legitimate, economically productive activities, pushing the market back to the same underground space we have been working hard to pull it out from."
The issue extends beyond perception to policy, with Nigeria's regulatory environment for digital assets characterized by inconsistency.
In 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a directive prohibiting banks from facilitating crypto-related transactions, effectively isolating crypto exchanges and startups from the formal financial system.
Two years later, the CBN introduced Guidelines for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), a partial reversal that reopened avenues for crypto operations, albeit with limitations. Concurrently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its framework for digital assets.
In March 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the updated Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 into law. This legislation classifies digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, as securities, bringing them under the regulatory authority of Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
However, Ihenyen points out that the rules remain fragmented and pose significant barriers. "While the CBN’s review of its restrictive stance in late 2023 was a commendable step forward, the licensing process for VASPs remains challenging and prohibitively expensive for many local innovators," he noted. "High capital requirements and registration fees, especially at this nascent stage, make it difficult for startups to comply."
He further argued that the government's regulatory inconsistency undermines its objective of fostering judicial competence in this domain.
"It may be counterproductive to demand that the judiciary be grounded in a subject where the executive and regulatory branches are yet to establish clear, harmonised rules of engagement," he stated.
Nigeria's digital asset regulations continue to evolve, ranging from crackdowns on P2P trading to the ambiguous legal status of stablecoins. This creates a challenge for judges. "A judge cannot apply a clear legal precedent if the core regulatory classification is subject to shifting policy or high barriers to entry into a nascent market," Ihenyen observed.
His proposed solution is straightforward: legislative clarity. "The government should prioritise finalising a clear, unified, and competitive national VASP Act or comprehensive digital asset framework or code," he urged.
"This legislative clarity must precede or run concurrently with judicial training to give judges a reliable and stable legal foundation to interpret. This is essentially what the rule of law is about."
Shifting Focus: From Crime Control to Digital Competence
Ihenyen contends that Nigeria's emphasis on enforcement overlooks a significant opportunity: leveraging blockchain technology to enhance governance, efficiency, and transparency.
"The overwhelming focus on tackling crime has the unavoidable effect of always positioning the government in a reactive stance," he explained. "Whereas the reality of the technology demands a proactive approach to harness its benefits."
He stressed that blockchain's potential extends beyond financial speculation or digital currencies. "We need to understand that the promise of blockchain technology is not just about financial assets," he said. "It's a fundamental digital infrastructure for more secure record-keeping, land registry, supply chain transparency, identity management, and governance."
Ihenyen believes the Tinubu administration has an opportunity to lead by example by adopting blockchain for public sector transparency. "The President’s Office has an opportunity to advocate for this technology’s use across government," he suggested.
Achieving this would necessitate a coordinated, national strategy. "The President’s call should be expanded to a National Virtual Asset Strategy," he proposed, "which the National Blockchain Adoption Policy tried to help steer in 2023."
Such a strategy, he elaborated, should encompass "judicial and law enforcement training, regulatory capacity building, a clear path to competitive licensing for local innovators, and government adoption of blockchain for efficiency and transparency."
Senator Ihenyen's remarks reflect a prevailing sentiment within Nigeria's tech community: that the nation's digital future hinges more on clarity and enablement than on control.
"Training judges is essential for adjudicating the negative uses of crypto," he stated. "But true digital competence goes beyond enforcement. The judiciary is only the end of the enforcement pipeline. The beginning must ensure a conducive business climate and a well-equipped licensing and regulatory regime."
President Tinubu's call for crypto literacy could signify a turning point. However, without a coherent framework, the judiciary and the country as a whole may struggle to strike a balance between fostering innovation and maintaining oversight.
As Ihenyen concluded, "This is the only way we can build trust and confidence in the sector and promote integrity, transparency, and accountability for the level of sustainable growth that assures a safe and sound economy for the country."