When the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched the eNaira back in 2021, not many outside of the apex bank thought it was a game changer.
Yet, it was a landmark initiative that placed Nigeria on the global map as one of the first movers in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Unfortunately, its promise was quickly overshadowed by politics.
The then CBN Governor’s botched naira redesign policy in 2022 was seen as an attempt to interfere in elections, and since then, the eNaira has been left to languish.
Today, with a new CBN Governor less keen on CBDCs, the project is widely seen as a failure.
But much has changed since then. A new, more progressive Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has emerged, one that is bullish on digital assets.
The new SEC Act of 2025 explicitly includes provisions for cryptocurrencies, exchanges, and related service providers. For the first time, Nigeria is again on the frontier of digital asset regulation in Africa, following the same bold footsteps it took with the eNaira.
This brings me to stablecoins, one of the most critical building blocks of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Globally, stablecoins function as the bridge between fiat money and the digital economy, providing the liquidity that makes crypto markets work.
According to Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin, there are now over $169 billions of stablecoins in circulation, serving more than 500 million users worldwide. Nigeria, as Africa’s crypto capital and a top 10 crypto nation globally, contributes significantly to this demand.
Yet, what’s often ignored is how Tether makes money. Tether pegs its token 1:1 to the U.S. dollar by investing customer deposits into U.S. Treasuries. The result? A massive windfall.
Tether is now one of the top 20 holders of U.S. government debt and earned more than $13 billion in profits in 2023 alone. In other words, American taxpayers indirectly benefit from global demand for stablecoins because issuers channel billions into U.S. debt markets.
This should make Nigeria sit up. Having a stablecoin pegged to the naira will not be as straightforward as Tether, but the advantages are immense.
A Nigerian stablecoin could change this dynamic.
Still, there are serious risks. The naira’s history of sharp devaluations could trigger redemption runs, making it difficult to hold the peg. Reserves invested in Nigerian government securities are less liquid than U.S.
Yet despite these risks, the benefits far outweigh the downsides.
A well-designed, transparent, and regulated stablecoin could inject liquidity into government debt markets, lower the cost of remittances, broaden access to finance, and make Nigeria less dependent on foreign-backed digital dollars.
A well-designed, transparent, and regulated stablecoin could inject liquidity into government debt markets, lower the cost of remittances, broaden access to finance, and make Nigeria less dependent on foreign-backed digital dollars.
The risks are real but manageable with clear rules, regular audits, and credible reserve management.
Nigeria already has a first attempt in cNGN, launched by the African Stablecoin Consortium in partnership with local fintechs and banks. It is pegged one to one with the naira and backed by deposits and government securities.
Adoption, however, remains very small. With a circulating supply of only about 15 million tokens and a market capitalization of roughly $10,000, it is a rounding error beside Tether’s $169 billion.
Yet the symbolic importance cannot be ignored. It shows Nigeria can build, regulate, and issue its own stablecoin. The next test is whether it can scale, attract liquidity, provide full reserve transparency, and earn the trust of everyday users.