The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has opened applications for the second cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox Programme, introducing dedicated tracks for virtual asset service providers and data-enabled financial services.
Applications opened on August 12, 2026, and will close on August 31, 2026, according to a statement signed by Hakama Sidi Ali, Acting Director of the CBN’s Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department.
The new cohort will operate through two tracks: the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Track and the Data Enabled Financial Services Track.
The VASP Track will support innovations involving virtual assets, stablecoins, payments, settlement, custody, wallets and other related financial infrastructure that require supervised live testing.
The Data Enabled Financial Services Track, which excludes VASPs, will focus on innovations that use secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit, risk management, operational efficiency and consumer outcomes.
The CBN said the second cohort demonstrates its commitment to creating a transparent, proportionate and risk-based regulatory environment that supports innovation while protecting monetary and financial stability.
The apex bank said insights obtained through supervised testing would help deepen its understanding of emerging technologies and inform the development of appropriate regulatory and supervisory frameworks for Nigeria’s evolving digital financial ecosystem.
Musa Jimoh, Director of the Payments System Policy Department at the CBN, said financial innovation is continuing to transform how individuals and businesses access and use financial services.
He said the introduction of dedicated tracks for virtual asset service providers and data-enabled financial services reflects the changing nature of financial innovation and the CBN’s commitment to supporting responsible and transparent innovation aligned with the long-term development of Nigeria’s financial system.
Applicants will be assessed based on several criteria, including the level of innovation, readiness for controlled live testing, potential consumer or market benefits, governance arrangements, risk management capabilities and the suitability of their proposed testing plans.
Successful participants will conduct supervised testing within parameters agreed with the CBN. These parameters will include safeguards relating to consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity and regulatory reporting.
The CBN stressed that participation in the Regulatory Sandbox does not constitute a licence, authorisation or approval to operate outside the approved testing parameters.
Interested applicants have been advised to submit their applications through the CBN Regulatory Sandbox Portal before the August 31 deadline.
The latest move comes amid a series of regulatory developments targeting Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital asset industry.
Last month, President Bola Tinubu signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, establishing a framework for coordinating the regulation of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokenised assets and other digital assets across government agencies.
The Nigeria Revenue Service also recently released new guidelines on the taxation of virtual assets, covering companies, individual taxpayers, virtual asset service providers, peer-to-peer marketplace operators and other participants in the digital asset ecosystem.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission has intensified efforts to regulate the sector through its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme.
Under the latest development, seven virtual asset companies received approval-in-principle, bringing the total number of companies granted such approval to nine.
The CBN first launched its Regulatory Sandbox in 2022, with applications for the first cohort opening in December of that year. The sandbox became operational on January 25, 2023, providing fintech innovators with a controlled environment to test financial products, services, business models and enabling technologies under regulatory supervision.
The programme is intended to allow innovators to test new solutions in a controlled environment while giving regulators an opportunity to identify potential risks and assess their implications before wider market deployment.
