The Chief Executive Officer of the crypto firm KoinKoin, Olaniyi Atose, has linked the Nigerian government’s heightened focus on the crypto industry to the fast-growing volume of digital asset transactions in the country.

Nairametrics reported that Atose spoke on Thursday in Lagos at the official launch of the company’s KoinKoin app. He cited Chainalysis data showing that Nigeria recorded $92.1 billion in on-chain crypto transaction value between July 2024 and June 2025.

He added that the scale of crypto activity in Nigeria showed digital assets had become an established part of the financial ecosystem and could no longer be ignored.

According to him, the large volume of crypto transactions was one of the reasons the government and financial regulators had stepped up their focus on developing a regulatory framework for the sector.

Atose noted that although substantial crypto transactions were taking place in the country, regulators did not have sufficient visibility into the activity. This created challenges from an anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing perspective.

“The reality is, Nigeria is the second adopter of crypto in the world. So that means there’s something happening,” he said. He added that the activity spans both business-to-business and retail transactions.

He said past attempts to ban or restrict cryptocurrency only pushed the activities underground rather than eliminating them.

According to him, a regulatory framework would help the government understand the sector better. It would also show the international financial community that Nigeria has appropriate mechanisms for monitoring digital asset activities.

Atose said KoinKoin has been involved in several regulatory initiatives as Nigeria moves towards a more structured digital asset market.

He said the company is part of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s pilot cohort focused on anti money laundering and counter terrorist financing.

He also disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had issued KoinKoin an Approval in Principle to participate in its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP).

According to him, the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has also invited the company to join a pilot programme for tax collection. The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit has recognised it as part of efforts to strengthen suspicious transaction reporting.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved in terms of our recognition by all these entities, but the work is not done,” he said.

Atose disclosed that KoinKoin had also been admitted into Ghana’s regulatory sandbox and plans to launch operations in that country in the coming weeks.

He said the company was excited about expanding beyond Nigeria and hoped to replicate its regulated approach in the Ghanaian market.

At the launch, Atose said the KoinKoin app would give users access to digital assets, including Bitcoin and digital dollar products.

He also welcomed the Federal Government’s executive order on virtual assets. He said it would help harmonise the activities of the different regulatory agencies involved in the sector.

He said the harmonisation would place greater responsibility on operators to ensure the digital asset ecosystem remains safe and compliant.

In July this year, President Bola Tinubu signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026. It establishes a new framework to coordinate the regulation of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokenised assets and other digital assets across government agencies.

Weeks later, the NRS released new Guidelines on the Taxation of Virtual Assets. They target companies, individual taxpayers, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace operators and other participants in Nigeria’s digital asset ecosystem.

Before then, the SEC had stepped up efforts to grant approval in principle to crypto exchanges under ARIP.

Under its regulatory sandbox, the Commission recently cleared three additional VASPs for admission into ARIP. This brought the number of crypto firms under the sandbox to 14.

Meanwhile, the CBN recently opened applications for the second cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox Programme. The new cohort introduces dedicated tracks for virtual asset service providers and data-enabled financial services.