11/09/2025
Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, just gave the Central Bank a big order: track all cryptocurrency transactions. But pause for a moment can that even be done? Especially now that Nigeria is leaning towards BRICS, and not exactly in step with the U.S.? Let’s unpack this.
At a recent banking and finance conference, Tinubu’s team admitted something many Nigerians already know people are leaving the banks. They’re using stablecoins. They’re saving in crypto. And the president said, track it before it slips out of hand.
But here’s the truth: no government can watch every single blockchain wallet. That’s impossible. What they can do is tighten control at the weak spots: exchanges and wallet providers, banks and payment channels, financial intelligence networks, and even peer-to-peer trades in the naira. That’s what “tracking” really means choking the points where crypto meets the real economy.
Now, add another layer. Most global crypto surveillance tools belong to the West. Chainalysis, TRM Labs… these are tied to U.S. sanctions and the dollar system. But Nigeria is moving toward BRICS. And that opens another door. China already runs real-time tracking on its digital yuan. Russia wants de-dollarized crypto trade backed by gold and oil. Nigeria could plug into those systems instead.
So, is it possible? Yes Nigeria can track a huge portion of transactions, especially where naira or banks are involved. But no, they can never track it all. Wallet-to-wallet, peer-to-peer, that will remain in the shadows. What Tinubu is really asking for is regulatory control, not total surveillance. Control over exchanges, over stablecoins, over the bridges that connect crypto to everyday life.
And here’s the big picture: this isn’t just about finance. It’s about sovereignty. It’s about whether Nigeria chooses the U.S. system, or builds something new with BRICS. And inside that choice lies the future of money not just in Nigeria, but across Africa.
