CBN Regulatory Sandbox Cohort 2 Opens with Crypto Track

In Short

• The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is taking applications for its second Regulatory Sandbox Programme cohort.
• The cohort adds a dedicated Virtual Asset Service Provider, VASP, track for crypto and stablecoin firms.
• Applications open August 12, 2026 and close August 31, 2026.

What Happened

The CBN Regulatory Sandbox is accepting new participants for Cohort 2 as Nigeria moves toward tighter coordination on digital finance rules. A regulatory sandbox is a supervised test environment where companies can trial new financial products with real users, but within limits.

CBN says the new cohort has two tracks. The first is the Virtual Asset Service Provider, VASP, track. It is aimed at businesses working with virtual assets, which is an umbrella term that covers crypto assets and tokenised value. The CBN said this track covers stablecoins, which are crypto tokens designed to track a currency like the US dollar, plus payments, settlement, custody, wallets, and related infrastructure.

The second is the Data Enabled Financial Services track, which excludes VASPs. It focuses on products that use secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing, meaning customers explicitly allow their data to be used, to improve payments, credit, risk management, and financial inclusion.

CBN said it will assess applications based on how new the idea is, readiness for live testing, expected consumer benefit, governance, and risk management. Successful applicants will test under agreed parameters, including consumer protection, cybersecurity, operational resilience, and regulatory reporting. The bank also stressed that joining the sandbox is not a licence to operate outside the test scope.

Why It Matters

For crypto firms, the VASP track is a clearer pathway to test stablecoin and wallet products under oversight, instead of operating in legal grey areas.

For fintechs outside crypto, the data-enabled track signals that the CBN wants more products built on consent-driven data sharing, which could support better credit decisions and safer digital payments.

The move also follows Nigeria’s wider push to coordinate virtual asset regulation, including a recent executive order on virtual assets coordination.