Why is Nigeria's Government Taxing Cryptocurrency?

The answer might surprise you—and it's kind of amusing when you dig into the numbers.

Nigeria has witnessed an explosive surge in crypto adoption over the past decade. Today, roughly 22 million Nigerians hold cryptocurrencies, representing 10.3% of the population. Fast forward to a decade ago, and that figure was practically negligible at just 0.4%. That's not a gradual climb—it's a complete shift in how Nigerians view digital assets.

So why the sudden tax interest from the government? As adoption skyrockets and more citizens enter the crypto space, tax authorities naturally want a piece of the action. With 22 million users now in the ecosystem, the tax base has grown too large to ignore. What started as a fringe activity is now a mainstream financial behavior, which explains why regulatory scrutiny and taxation policies have become inevitable.