How to Keep Records of Crypto Transactions in Nigeria

How to Keep Records of Crypto Transactions in Nigeria

If you use cryptocurrency regularly, keeping a record of what you bought and sold may sound simple.

Until you actually try to reconstruct a year's worth of transactions.

You may have bought Bitcoin on one exchange, moved it to a personal wallet, swapped part of it for another token, received USDT from a client, transferred some assets to another wallet and eventually sold part of your holdings for naira.

By the end of the year, you may have transactions spread across several exchanges, wallets and bank accounts.

The blockchain contains a lot of information.

But a blockchain transaction history is not automatically the same thing as an organised financial record.

That distinction matters for tax.

Nigeria's 2026 Guidelines on Taxation of Virtual Assets provide more specific guidance on the taxation and administration of virtual-asset activities. The Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 also requires persons to maintain books or records containing sufficient information to ascertain their tax liability.

So the practical question becomes:

What records should you actually keep?

Start With the Transaction, Not the Tax

A common mistake is to think about records only when it is time to calculate tax.

It is usually better to start much earlier.

For every significant crypto transaction, try to preserve enough information to answer five basic questions:

What happened?

When did it happen?

How much was involved?

What was it worth at the time?

Can I prove it?

Those five questions provide a useful foundation for organising crypto records.

1. Record What Asset Was Involved

Start with the obvious:

• Bitcoin

• Ethereum

• USDT

• USDC

• BNB

• other tokens

• NFTs or other virtual assets where relevant

Do not rely entirely on the symbol displayed by an exchange.

If you use several platforms, make sure your records clearly identify the asset.

For example:

BTC — Bitcoin

is much more useful than simply recording:

Crypto

This becomes especially important when you hold multiple assets with different acquisition histories.

2. Record the Date and Time

Record when the transaction occurred.

This sounds trivial until you have hundreds of transactions.

The date can affect:

• the relevant value of the asset

• whether a transaction was an acquisition or disposal

• the period in which income was received

• the exchange rate used

• the relationship between related transactions

For crypto, recording the time can also be useful because prices can change significantly during a single day.

Where possible, preserve the original timestamp from the exchange or blockchain rather than manually entering an approximate date later.

3. Record the Type of Transaction

This may be one of the most important fields in your records.

Don't simply record:

BTC — 0.5 — $50,000

Instead, identify what actually happened.

For example:

• Purchase

• Sale

• Crypto-to-crypto swap

• Transfer between your own wallets

• Transfer to another person

• Payment received

• Payment made

• Staking reward

• Mining reward

• Airdrop

• Fee

• Other reward or income

Why does this matter?

Because two transactions involving exactly the same amount of Bitcoin can have completely different tax implications depending on what actually happened.

A transfer from your exchange account to your own hardware wallet is not the same thing as selling Bitcoin.

A client paying you in USDT is not the same thing as buying USDT as an investment.

The transaction type provides the context.

4. Record How Much Crypto Was Involved

Record the quantity.

For example:

0.25 BTC

rather than simply:

Bitcoin sold

For token swaps, record both sides.

For example:

0.5 ETH exchanged for 1,750 USDT

This makes the transaction much easier to reconstruct later.

It also helps you reconcile your records against the exchange or blockchain.

5. Record the Value at the Time

This is where crypto records become more important than a simple list of transactions.

You may need to establish the value of the asset at the relevant time.

For example:

0.25 BTC
Transaction date: March 14
Value at transaction: $16,250

The exact valuation method depends on the transaction and the applicable tax rules.

The important thing is to preserve the evidence used to determine the value.

Do not assume that you will be able to find the same price later.

A price displayed on an exchange today will not tell you what the relevant market value was at a particular time several months earlier.

6. Keep Your Acquisition Cost

If you later dispose of an asset, you may need to establish what it originally cost you.

Suppose you bought:

0.5 BTC for $20,000

and later sold that Bitcoin for:

$27,000

Your records should allow you to connect the later disposal with the original acquisition.

That means preserving information such as:

• acquisition date

• quantity

• purchase price

• transaction fees

• exchange used

• payment method

• transaction reference

Without this information, calculating the relevant gain or loss can become much more difficult.

7. Keep Transaction Fees and Other Charges

Don't ignore fees.

Depending on the transaction, you may encounter:

• exchange trading fees

• network/gas fees

• withdrawal fees

• deposit fees

• brokerage fees

• platform charges

• other transaction-related costs

Keep the original record showing the charge.

Even when a particular fee does not ultimately affect a particular tax calculation, keeping it as part of the transaction history helps you understand the true economics of the transaction.

It also makes reconciliation easier.

8. Record the Exchange or Platform

Keep track of where the transaction happened.

For example:

Binance
Bybit
Coinbase
Kraken
P2P platform
Personal wallet

This matters because your records may eventually need to be reconciled across several platforms.

If you have five different exchanges and three wallets, a single spreadsheet containing “crypto transactions” without identifying the source can quickly become difficult to understand.

9. Keep Wallet Addresses

For blockchain transactions, preserve the relevant wallet addresses where appropriate.

For example:

From: Exchange wallet
To: Personal wallet

or:

From: Personal wallet
To: External wallet

Wallet addresses can help establish the movement of assets and provide supporting evidence when reviewing a transaction later.

However, a wallet address by itself does not explain who owns the wallet.

That is why it should be combined with your own records identifying which wallets belong to you.

10. Keep the Transaction Hash

For on-chain transactions, the blockchain transaction hash can be extremely useful.

A transaction hash can provide a permanent reference to the underlying blockchain transaction.

Instead of recording only:

Sent 0.2 ETH

you can preserve:

0.2 ETH
Date/time
From wallet
To wallet
Transaction hash

The hash allows you to return to the blockchain and inspect the underlying transaction later.

But again, the hash is evidence of a blockchain transaction—not a complete explanation of the transaction.

Your records should explain why the transaction happened.

11. Keep Exchange Statements

Don't rely exclusively on individual transaction screenshots.

Where an exchange provides downloadable statements or transaction histories, keep copies.

These can be useful because they may contain:

• deposits

• withdrawals

• trades

• fees

• balances

• timestamps

• transaction references

Downloading records periodically is safer than assuming the exchange will always provide access to the same historical information.

You should also consider keeping the original exported file rather than relying only on a screenshot.

12. Keep Bank Records Too

Crypto records should not exist in isolation.

If you buy crypto with naira, your bank statement may provide evidence of the payment.

If you sell crypto and receive naira, the bank statement may provide evidence of the proceeds.

For example:

Bank account → Exchange → Wallet → Exchange → Bank account

Those records can help connect the financial movement to the crypto transaction history.

This is particularly useful when trying to reconcile what happened across different systems.

The bank statement tells part of the story.

The exchange record tells another part.

The blockchain may tell another.

Good record-keeping connects them.

13. Keep Records When Crypto Is Received as Income

If you receive cryptocurrency from a client or customer, don't simply record:

Received 2,000 USDT

Record the reason.

For example:

Consultancy fee — 2,000 USDT

or:

Payment for software development — 2,000 USDT

You should also preserve the underlying invoice, contract, agreement, receipt or other supporting document where applicable.

This becomes important because the tax treatment of crypto received as payment is connected to the underlying transaction.

The crypto is not necessarily just an investment asset that appeared in your wallet.

It may have been business income or professional income paid in another form.

14. Keep Records of Staking, Mining and Other Rewards

The same principle applies to crypto received through activities such as:

• staking

• mining

• DeFi activities

• liquidity incentives

• airdrops

• protocol rewards

Record:

• what you received

• when you received it

• how much you received

• the relevant value at the time

• where it came from

• the supporting transaction or platform record

This is particularly important because the tax treatment of receiving an asset can be different from the tax treatment of disposing of it later.

If you receive 1 ETH as a reward and sell that ETH six months later, you need to be able to reconstruct both events.

15. Don't Treat Every Wallet Transfer as a Sale

This is an important practical point.

Suppose you move:

1 BTC from Exchange A → Your hardware wallet

Then later:

1 BTC from Your hardware wallet → Exchange B

You have moved an asset between wallets you control.

That does not automatically mean you sold the Bitcoin.

If your records simply show:

BTC moved
BTC moved
BTC moved

you may later struggle to distinguish genuine disposals from ordinary wallet management.

For this reason, identify your own wallets and exchanges clearly.

A simple internal label can help:

• Personal Wallet 1

• Personal Wallet 2

• Business Wallet

• Binance Account

• Bybit Account

The goal is to make ownership and movement understandable.

16. Keep Records of Crypto-to-Crypto Swaps

Swaps deserve particular attention.

If you exchange:

BTC → ETH

record both assets.

For example:

0.25 BTC exchanged for 3.2 ETH

Also record:

• date and time

• platform or protocol

• value of the asset disposed of

• value of the asset received

• fees

• transaction hash

• wallet addresses where relevant

Don't allow the swap to disappear into your records as simply:

“ETH received.”

You need to preserve the event that caused the ETH to appear.

17. Separate Personal and Business Crypto

If you operate a business, this becomes especially important.

You may have:

Personal crypto holdings

and:

Business crypto transactions

Do not mix them casually.

A business receiving USDT from a customer should not look identical in your records to the owner's personal purchase of USDT.

Where possible, maintain separate:

• wallets

• exchange accounts

• transaction records

• supporting documents

• accounting records

This can make both tax reporting and ordinary business accounting much easier.

18. Keep the Supporting Documents

A transaction record tells you what happened.

A supporting document can help explain why it happened.

Depending on the situation, this could include:

• invoices

• receipts

• contracts

• customer correspondence

• payment confirmations

• exchange statements

• bank statements

• wallet records

• transaction hashes

• screenshots

• CSV exports

• PDF statements

You do not necessarily need a separate document for every blockchain movement.

But for transactions that matter financially, preserve enough supporting evidence to explain the transaction later.

What If My Records Are Already a Mess?

This is probably more common than people admit.

You may already have:

• several exchanges

• multiple wallets

• old transactions

• missing screenshots

• incomplete CSV exports

• bank transfers you cannot immediately match

• crypto swaps you forgot about

• transactions going back several years

Don't try to reconstruct everything by guessing.

Start with the original sources.

Step 1: List your accounts

Write down every exchange, wallet and bank account you have used.

Step 2: Export the transaction history

Download the available transaction records from each exchange.

Step 3: Identify your wallets

Create a list of wallets that belong to you and label them.

Step 4: Match movements

Try to connect exchange withdrawals to wallet deposits and wallet withdrawals to exchange deposits.

Step 5: Identify actual disposals

Separate:

• purchases

• sales

• swaps

• own-wallet transfers

• income

• rewards

Step 6: Find missing evidence

Look for:

• bank statements

• emails

• invoices

• exchange confirmations

• blockchain records

• transaction hashes

Step 7: Document uncertainty

If you cannot establish something confidently, don't simply invent a number.

Mark the transaction for further investigation.

A clearly identified uncertainty is better than a false record that looks complete.

How Long Should You Keep Crypto Records?

The Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 requires persons to maintain books or records containing sufficient information to ascertain tax liability.

It generally requires such records to be retained for at least six years after the relevant year of assessment.

That makes it important to think about crypto records as financial records rather than temporary screenshots.

Don't assume that an exchange will preserve everything you need forever.

If a transaction matters, keep your own copy of the supporting information.

The Difference Between Blockchain Data and Financial Records

This distinction is worth repeating.

The blockchain can tell you:

A transaction occurred.

It can show:

• wallet addresses

• token

• quantity

• timestamp

• transaction hash

• network information

But it may not tell you:

Why did this transaction happen?

Was it:

• a purchase?

• a sale?

• payment from a customer?

• a gift?

• a transfer between your own wallets?

• a staking reward?

• a token swap?

• a business expense?

That context often exists outside the blockchain.

This is why good crypto record-keeping requires connecting blockchain data with the financial and business context around it.

What Good Crypto Records Should Allow You to Do

At the end of the process, your records should help you answer questions such as:

What crypto did I acquire?

What did it cost me?

When did I acquire it?

What did I later dispose of?

What did I receive in exchange?

Which transactions were simply transfers between my own wallets?

Which crypto did I receive as income?

What was each relevant transaction worth at the time?

Can I support the figures with original records?

Can I explain the transaction history to my accountant or tax adviser?

If the answer to those questions is yes, your records are doing their job.

Final Takeaway

You do not need to be a tax expert to keep better crypto records.

You need to develop the habit of recording what happened while the information is still available.

Keep the exchange records.

Keep the wallet information.

Keep the transaction hashes.

Keep the bank records.

Keep the invoices and supporting documents.

And most importantly, record the reason for the transaction, not just the movement of the cryptocurrency.

Because when tax time comes, the question is rarely just:

“How much crypto did you move?”

The more useful question is:

“What actually happened?”

Good records make that question much easier to answer.

And that is the real purpose of crypto record-keeping: not creating paperwork for its own sake, but creating a reliable history of your financial activity that you can understand and explain later.

Sources and Further Reading

• Joint Revenue Board — Guidelines on Taxation of Virtual Assets
  Official guidance on the taxation and administration of virtual-asset activities in Nigeria. Read the JRB Guidelines

• Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025
  Includes requirements relating to books, records and information needed to ascertain tax liability. Read the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025

• Nigeria Tax Act 2025
  The principal legislation governing taxation under Nigeria's new tax framework. Read the Nigeria Tax Act 2025