Is crypto mining legal in Nigeria?

Crypto mining in Nigeria is legal, and there is no mining licence to obtain. Nigeria regulates the businesses that trade and hold crypto for others, as described in how crypto is regulated in Nigeria. For miners, the rules that bite are electricity law and the new tax code.

Is bitcoin mining legal in Nigeria?

Yes. The Investments and Securities Act 2025, signed on March 31, 2025, added virtual and digital assets to the legal definition of securities and lets the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) register and supervise digital asset exchanges and virtual asset service providers. It does not set rules for mining.

We found no Nigerian law or regulation that bans or licenses crypto mining as of October 2026. For the basics of the process, see how bitcoin mining works.

What are the Nigeria crypto mining SEC rules?

There are none specific to mining. In a circular dated January 16, 2026, the SEC set minimum capital for six categories of digital asset operators:

• digital asset exchanges and custodians, N2 billion
• digital asset offering platforms, N1 billion
• real-world asset tokenization platforms, N1 billion
• digital asset intermediaries, N500 million
• digital asset platform operators, including token issuers, N500 million
• ancillary virtual asset service providers, N300 million

Mining is not one of these categories. The 2025 Act does count investment contracts as securities, which matters for anyone selling mining schemes to investors rather than mining for themselves.

What electricity rules affect crypto mining in Nigeria?

The Electricity Act 2023 treats tapping into power lines, tampering with meters and other unauthorised use as electricity theft. Nairametrics reported the core penalty as more than three years in prison, a fine, or both, with fines of at least three times the financial gain from the theft for a first offence.

The same law opened up power generation. A 2023 guest article in Bitcoin Magazine said that, under the Act, anyone may build or run generation of up to 1 MW per site without a licence unless the regulator sets a different limit, which it presented as a possible opening for off-grid miners.

How is crypto mining taxed in Nigeria?

The Nigeria Tax Act 2025, the centre of the country's new tax regime, lists profits or gains from transactions in digital or virtual assets as chargeable income. Losses on digital assets can only be set against digital asset gains. For individuals, PwC lists income tax bands from 0% on the first N800,000 to 25% above N50 million. The details are in how crypto is taxed in Nigeria and how crypto mining is taxed.

Rules differ by country and change often. Check the tax authority or a qualified professional for your own situation.