Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMCDE) has approved the National Blockchain Policy as the country doubles down on creating a blockchain-powered economy.

The cryptocurrency's dominance rate, which measures Bitcoin's share of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization, has risen to over 50%, its highest level in months.

Nigeria has reportedly approved a national policy to create a blockchain-powered economy. The policy is aimed at promoting the use of blockchain technology to drive innovation, economic growth, and job creation in the country. The policy outlines a number of key objectives, including the creation of a regulatory framework for blockchain and cryptocurrency, the development of blockchain-based applications in various sectors, and the promotion of blockchain education and research. The move is seen as a positive step for the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry in Nigeria, which has been facing regulatory challenges in recent years.

The Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will allow tokenizing assets like equities, property, and debt.

Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering allowing licensed digital exchanges to list tokens backed by assets like equity, debt, or property. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether will not be among those assets, according to SEC head of securities and investment Abdulkadir Abbas. The SEC aims to register fintech firms as digital sub-brokers, crowdfunding intermediaries, fund managers, and tokenized coins issuers, but crypto exchanges will not be registered until the central bank provides clear regulations for the market.

Alchemy Pay has announced that it now supports domestic bank transfer payments for crypto purchases in Nigeria.

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace Paxful has announced that it will shut down, directing users to retrieve their funds from its platform.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria dropped by 33% in 2022 due to a severe shortage of dollars, which discouraged crypto companies from expanding into the country, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Despite the exponential growth in crypto adoption, FDI declined to $468 million from the previous year's $698 million. Nigeria has a high adoption rate of crypto, with more active adult crypto traders than most countries due to the constant devaluation of the naira.

The shutdown of peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplace Paxful has left its worldwide community searching for alternatives, but it appears to have especially affected the Nigerian Paxful community. Nigeria ranked eighth in terms of crypto adoption and usage rate among 154 countries included in a 2020 study by Chainalysis. Paxful pioneered the use of peer-to-peer trading in Nigeria, helping expand the crypto industry in the country. Some members of the Nigerian Paxful community expressed their worry about the future of crypto marketplaces, while others expressed concern about getting their funds back. Paxful CEO Ray Youssef has assured users that the team is working on clearing send-outs.

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority reported a sharp drop in profit for 2022 compared with a year earlier, citing macroeconomic conditions in developed and emerging markets as well as in the local economy.