Why Nigerian government is focusing on the crypto industry — KoinKoin CEO
The CEO of crypto firm KoinKoin, Olaniyi Atose, has attributed the Nigerian government’s heightened focus on the crypto industry to the rapidly growing volume of digital asset transactions in the country. The post Why Nigerian government is focusing on the crypto industry — KoinKoin CEO appeared first on Nairametrics .
Nigeria's government is increasing its concentration on the cryptocurrency industry due to the rapidly expanding volume of digital asset transactions within the country, according to Olaniyi Atose, the CEO of KoinKoin. Speaking during the company's KoinKoin app launch in Lagos, Atose cited Chainalysis data, which revealed that Nigeria processed $92.1 billion in on-chain crypto transactions between July 2024 and June 2025.
Atose emphasized that the substantial crypto activity demonstrated that digital assets had become an integral part of the financial ecosystem and could no longer be overlooked. The CEO noted that while significant crypto transactions were occurring in the country, regulators lacked sufficient visibility into the activity, which posed challenges for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing efforts.
Atose explained that past attempts to ban or restrict cryptocurrencies had merely pushed the activities underground instead of eliminating them. He highlighted that a regulatory framework would enable the government to better comprehend the sector while showcasing Nigeria's commitment to monitoring digital asset activities to the international financial community.
KoinKoin has actively participated in several regulatory initiatives in Nigeria, including the Central Bank of Nigeria's pilot cohort focused on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. The company has also received an Approval in Principle from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to join its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP) and has been invited by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) to participate in a tax collection pilot program.
KoinKoin has even been admitted to Ghana's regulatory sandbox, with plans to launch operations in the country soon. Atose welcomed the Federal Government's executive order on virtual assets, stating that it would help harmonize the activities of the various regulatory agencies involved in the sector, placing greater responsibility on operators to maintain a safe and compliant digital asset ecosystem.
Written by urgent.news from Nairametrics's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
