Starting from January 2026, Nigeria’s booming fintech industry will see tougher rules that are aimed at reducing fraudulent activities and boosting the formalisation of the sector.
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) announced that they will enforce mandatory registration for all Point-of-Sale (PoS) operators as from January 2026, while new tax laws now treat cryptocurrency profits as personal income and will be taxed accordingly.
These new changes matter greatly for millions of Nigerians who rely on mobile money and crypto for daily transactions, foreign remittances, and wealth management, potentially improving on security but also raising costs and compliance burdens.
These changes are targeted mainly at agent banking operators and the high crypto adoption ongoing across Africa, especially in Nigeria where POS agents serve as lifelines to “under-banked” areas and crypto especially stable coins helps to hedge against the volatile currency.
Over the last few years, Nigeria’s fintech sector has seen rapid growth, with over 5.9 million POS agents processing hundreds of trillions of naira in transactions and cryptocurrency trade hitting billions annually.
However, as electronic banking becomes more reliable and accessible to Nigeria’s growing population, certain risks like fraud, identity theft, and informal operations also increase.
This has prompted the current government to enforce regulations that reduce these risks and improve on the formal economy.
It is good to note that CAC first pushed for POS agent registration as far back as 2024 but extended deadlines due to very low compliance.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency has been under several stiff regulations from the central bank for a while due to untraceable activities and alleged currency manipulation. The Tax Act of 2025 is meant to enforce taxation on both fiat and virtual assets and income and boost the formal sector.
What to Expect and Impact As From January 2026
For POS operators across Nigerian, CAC registration becomes mandatory, and they must register their business as formal entities with business names as the year progresses. Unregistered agents could risk terminal seizures and shutdowns by security agencies.
Also, fintechs like Opay and Moniepoint could face watchlisting or profiling from the CBN. CBN also wants to geo-tag POS terminals to fixed locations exclusive to one agent from April 2026. The goal is to reduce fraud related to anonymity while protecting the financial system.
For cryptocurrency, crypto gains will be taxed just like income tax from Jan 2026. This means any profit from cryptocurrency trade, NFTs, and other virtual assets will be treated as taxable income under the new tax laws that will be enforced in 2026.
These rules could potentially formalise financial operations in Nigeria, build trust in technology and and attract more foreign investors, but they might increase the fees passed to consumers and smaller agents or informal traders might find it hard to adjust.
Note that historically, tax compliance in Nigeria has always been lower than the continent’s average with a tax to GDP ratio of 10%, compared to the continental average of 18%.
As of 2022, only about 16% of Nigerians were active tax payers, while 9% of companies were captured in Nigeria’s tax net.
These figures show the significant challenge of voluntary tax participation in Nigeria, and the current tax reforms are meant to enforce compliance. Emphasis on “enforce”.
Tax reform chairman Taiwo Oyedele has noted that the new rules are meant to tax gains and ignore losses while being less than previous rates, only that it will be enforced this time around.
Conclusion
Nigeria’s Fintech regulatory changes for 2026 show that the system is maturing with stricter POS rules to reduce fraud and new crypto tax to formally integrate digital assets as recognized means of income.
For everyday users and operators, compliance is the key. While adjusting to these changes could be somehow challenging, they could lead to a safer financial system across Nigeria.
