By Nkechi Eze
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has stressed the urgent need for proper regulation of cryptocurrency transactions in Nigeria, warning that the ecosystem, if left unregulated, could become a haven for fraud and money laundering.
In an official signed statement, the commission’s spokesperson disclosed that Olukoyede made this call on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, when the leadership of the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), led by its President, Obinna Iwuno, paid him a courtesy visit at the Commission’s corporate headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking through his Chief of Staff, Commander of the EFCC, CE Michael Nzekwe, Olukoyede observed that the growing influence of cryptocurrency in the global economy demanded the creation of governing rules to regulate its operations in Nigeria. According to him, without such safeguards, both genuine operators and unsuspecting investors could fall victim to exploitation.
“Crypto is the new oil. There’s so much money in crypto. The ecosystem is something that needs to be properly regulated. If that regulation is not done, even the genuine actors will run into big problems. The truth is that there’s a thin line between the genuine crypto operators and the fraudsters. What has been happening is that even politically-exposed persons are now using it as a means for laundering money and some of the actors in the ecosystem are falling for them. Even some of the ones you say are genuine, launder money. So, it’s important that we’re having this particular meeting,” Olukoyede stated.
He further urged players in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to place priority on enlightenment and training of investors while also encouraging them to collaborate with the EFCC in its fight against money laundering and related crimes. “I think that one of the things that will be taken out from here is that we’re going to have a better time to sit down and look at all the issues deeply. I’m glad you are a trainer. Identify some key factors, one is enlightenment and training also. We want to ensure that we have a clean economy. We can collaborate to stop money laundering. You can blow the whistle. You can be a whistleblower,” he said.
In his remarks, the SIBAN President, Obinna Iwuno, underscored the strategic role of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in Nigeria’s economy and noted that his association had taken proactive steps to self-regulate by adopting global best practices. He explained that SIBAN had developed a comprehensive code of ethics for operators in Nigeria, in line with standards from jurisdictions that had already instituted regulations.
“We have a code of ethics which we have drafted using international best practices and standards from other jurisdictions across the world that have done regulation. It is a code of ethics for practitioners and operators in Nigeria. That is a show of our commitment and willingness to be ethical; to be regulated and also to be compliant to the laws of the land and the requirements of regulation across the world. We have declared our openness and our needs and requirements for regulation. We have been on this since 2018, asking to regulate this sector so that we don’t lose out and become victims of capital flight,” Iwuno explained.
Iwuno appealed for stronger collaboration between SIBAN and the EFCC, stating that such a partnership would aid in the fight against investment fraud and money laundering. “We want to engage with you in the areas of education, collaboration, awareness creation and anti-scam campaigns across the country. We want to also work with you on how to identify crypto frauds and scams. We want to also have that relationship where we will be able to report bad actors to you and you take action. If we have this relationship, we would be able to stop these people before they even go on,” he noted.
Highlighting some of the association’s internal compliance measures, Iwuno revealed that SIBAN had already mandated operators to implement Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols on their platforms. “In our first training on crypto investigation and compliance, one of the things that we did was to tell our operators that you must implement KYC on your platforms; that you cannot be offering service to anybody without full KYC and you have to do KYC in line with the regulatory requirements in Nigeria. Another thing that we did was that every digital asset platform must have at least a minimum of two compliance officers working on the platform,” he said.
The SIBAN president further stressed that while regulation was necessary to ensure sanity, safety, and protection of investors, it should not stifle innovation in the sector. “So as much as we clamour for regulation, sanity, safety and protection of investors and consumers and making sure that Nigeria does not become a channel or an avenue for bad actors and all of these crimes, we want to also make sure that innovation is not strangulated nor stifled in the process. This is the reason why we have sought to start engaging with all relevant stakeholders of which the EFCC is one and the very core pillar of our nation and the government,” Iwuno said.
He added that with Nigeria’s large youth population and growing participation in digital assets, the absence of clear regulations could expose the country to grave risks. “We have the largest population in Africa, we have the largest youths. Nigerians are the most active people on this continent, but we also stand at risk that our ecosystem, growing at this fast pace, without proper regulations to guide activities on digital assets and blockchain technology, may open up to risks. Risks in the areas of money laundering, terrorism financing, threats to our national security, and even proliferation financing. All of these we take into consideration,” he concluded.
