Nigerian Naira stablecoins (NGN)

Why this currency

The naira stablecoins covered here come from three kinds of issuer. cNGN is issued by Wrapped CBDC Ltd, a Nigerian company that the Securities and Exchange Commission Nigeria admitted to an incubation programme on 2 July 2026. NGNC is issued by LINK.IO LTD, a company registered in the United Kingdom. NGNm is minted by the Mento protocol rather than by a company.

Sources: SEC Nigeria circular, 2 July 2026, cNGN FAQ, LINK NGNC page, Companies House, LINK.IO LTD (13581834), Mento protocol documentation, the Reserve

Market structure

cNGN is issued by Wrapped CBDC Ltd, which cngn.co names as its sole legal issuer. The Africa Stablecoin Consortium's FAQ describes cNGN as developed by a consortium of Nigerian banks, fintechs and blockchain businesses. The cNGN transparency page links monthly reserve reports from March 2025 to August 2026, prepared by Bala Isah Garba and Company (Chartered Accountants) under ISAE 3000 (Revised). The report as of 31 August 2026 states reserve assets of 3,550,845,048.39 naira against 3,329,961,223.91 cNGN in circulation, held in money market funds, Nigerian Treasury bills, bank deposits and fixed-term deposits.

NGNC is issued by LINK.IO LTD, a private limited company registered at Companies House in the United Kingdom. The issuer states that NGNC is backed by 100% cash and redeemable 1:1 for naira. Its published reserve statements are management self-attestations of naira held at Nigerian financial institutions, the latest dated 3 December 2023.

NGNm comes from Mento's multi currency protocol. Mento runs a reserve holding other issuers' fiat backed stablecoins behind its dollar and euro units, and separately a collateralised debt position system in which a currency token is borrowed against the dollar unit. Mento's V3 documentation describes most of its stablecoins as CDP-backed. On 2 October 2026, Mento's reserve dashboard counted 12 stablecoins as Reserve-backed and showed CDP markets only for GBPm, JPYm and CHFm, so NGNm was not one of the borrowed markets. The same dashboard showed the Reserve holding dollar and euro stablecoins from other issuers plus CELO, stETH and ETH, which made up 28.9% of holdings. A Mento naira is a claim on that onchain reserve rather than on naira held at a bank.

Sources: cNGN FAQ, Africa Stablecoin Consortium FAQ, cNGN transparency page, cNGN reserve attestation report as of 31 August 2026, LINK NGNC page, Companies House, LINK.IO LTD (13581834), Mento protocol documentation, collateralized debt positions, Mento protocol documentation, the Reserve, Mento reserve dashboard

Regulation

A Securities and Exchange Commission Nigeria circular dated 2 July 2026 names Wrapped CBDC Ltd among seven firms cleared for admission to the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme, which would receive the Commission's Approval-in-Principle. The circular states that an Approval-in-Principle is not a final licence and remains conditional on the entity's continued compliance with its regulatory, operational and supervisory obligations.

Before that admission, the SEC's register of Regulatory Incubation participants lists Wrapped CBDC Ltd in Cohort 002/24, with a test period from 29 August 2024 to 28 August 2025.

The Africa Stablecoin Consortium's site calls cNGN Nigeria's first licensed naira stablecoin, and the notes to the issuer's attestation report as of 31 August 2026 state that the company is licensed by the SEC under the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program. The SEC's own circular describes the status as an Approval-in-Principle, not a final licence.

The SEC describes the programme as a controlled regulatory sandbox in which it assesses novel business models before products are offered to the investing public.

Sources: SEC Nigeria circular, 2 July 2026, SEC Nigeria, Registered FinTech Operators, Africa Stablecoin Consortium, cNGN reserve attestation report as of 31 August 2026

Common questions