How Nigeria plans to trace crypto money without cracking the blockchain
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Nigeria wants a cut of crypto profits. Its new tax laws reveal the mechanism that could finally make crypto money traceable: the Tax Identification Number (TIN) and National Identification Number (NIN).
TechCabal’s analysis of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) 2025 shows how the government plans to make crypto transactions, once largely invisible to tax authorities, traceable by tying trades to real identities through TINs and NINs.
This marks a turning point in how digital currencies will be tracked in Nigeria. With TINs attached, crypto trades can now be matched against income declarations and tax records, allowing authorities to follow the money beyond wallets and into the formal economy, without necessarily touching the blockchain itself.
The move aligns Nigeria with the new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), designed to curb tax evasion and avoidance in digital assets. The framework, which took effect on January 1, 2026, enables tax authorities to obtain information on crypto transactions conducted both locally and abroad.
In the UK, for instance, crypto asset providers must collect customers’ names, dates of birth, National Insurance numbers or Unique Taxpayer References for residents, and TINs (with country of issuance) for non-residents.
Nigeria is now building toward the same visibility.
Why TIN/NIN?
The TIN, also called the Tax ID, is a unique number jointly issued by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Joint Revenue Board (JRB). It exists to track individuals and businesses for tax administration, compliance, and enforcement.
NIN is Nigeria’s closest equivalent to a social security number, tying individuals to biometric data—fingerprints and facial records—in the National Identity Database. For individuals, TINs are generated from NINs.
By requiring crypto service providers to collect and report customers’ TINs and NINs, Nigeria is extending an already expansive identity-tracking system into the digital asset economy. Rather than build complex blockchain-surveillance infrastructure, authorities can follow a cleaner trail: from crypto exchange, to named individual, to declared income.
Why crypto?
Nigeria’s crypto markets received an estimated $92.1 billion in value between July 2024 and June 2025, ranking it among the largest globally.
With Nigeria’s plan to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio from under 10% to 18% by 2027, tapping into a sector that has continued to grow makes sense for regulators while raising concern for users.
While the $92.1 billion represents total transaction value, not profits, even a fraction of that amount, once taxable, could unlock valuable revenue for a country trying to wean itself away from oil revenues.
How the reporting will work
Under the NTAA, 2025, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) are required to file monthly returns to the relevant tax authority, increasing their compliance costs.
These returns must include the nature of the virtual asset service provided (exchange, sale, transfer, custody); the date of each transaction; the type and value of the virtual assets involved; the sales value of the virtual assets; the name, address, telephone number, email address, and tax ID of the customer, including the NIN of the customer where applicable.
“The name, address, telephone number, email address and Tax ID of the customer, including the national identification number of the customer if he is an individual,” the law read.
Other information includes the name, address, telephone number, and email address of any counterparty involved in the transaction, and any other additional information.
Tax authorities are also empowered to request additional information from VASPs, with or without notice.
Beyond tax reporting, VASPs must flag large or suspicious transactions to both the tax authorities and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), extending crypto oversight into the country’s broader anti-money laundering framework.
Exchanges are also required to maintain know-your-customer (KYC) records and retain customer transaction and identification data for at least seven years after the last transaction.
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This is not Nigeria’s first attempt at taxing crypto profits. The Finance Act of 2022 introduced a 10% tax on profits from digital assets, but enforcement proved difficult in an ecosystem where transactions were hard to link to individuals.
The NTAA attempts to close that gap. VASPs must now register with tax authorities, while crypto traders are expected to self-report profits, which fall under personal income tax.
“A taxable person engaged in virtual asset activities shall keep records and books as provided under section 31 of this Act and report virtual asset activities to the relevant tax authorities,” the law noted.
The compulsory use of TINs and NINs—already required for operating a bank account—adds a layer of scrutiny that did not exist before. What once operated in regulatory grey zones is being pulled into a tightly monitored system.
This tax push also aligns with broader regulatory changes. In March 2025, Nigeria’s Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 formally recognised virtual and digital assets as securities, bringing VASPs, Digital Asset Operators (DAOPs), and Digital Asset Exchanges (DAXs) under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) oversight.
Non-compliant VASPs face penalties of ₦10 million ($7,026.57) in the first month of default and ₦1 million ($702.66) for each subsequent month, alongside the risk of licence suspension or revocation.
Nigeria’s new tax laws are the most sweeping the country has seen in decades. By forcing crypto service providers to report TINs and NINs alongside transaction data, tax authorities are no longer passive observers of digital finance. They can now connect crypto trades to real people, existing income records, and past filings. In doing so, crypto shifts from a largely opaque activity into one that can be traced, cross-checked, audited, and taxed.
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