Research Methodology
Project THEMIS employs a five-phase methodology grounded in doctrinal legal research, structured data collection, and comparative jurisprudential analysis.
Cases prosecuted or substantially adjudicated between January 2023 and December 2025, capturing the period following the SEC’s regulatory framework for digital assets.
Cases where cryptocurrency or virtual assets feature as the instrument, object, or proceeds of the offence, including fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing, and unlicensed VASP operations.
Prosecutions initiated by Nigerian law enforcement agencies, primarily EFCC and the NFIU, NPF as well as other participating law enforcement authorities, across Federal and State High Courts.
Cases with sufficient publicly available documentation to populate at least 70% of the 54-field framework. Sealed or ongoing cases are flagged but excluded from the primary dataset.
Civil disputes between private parties, regulatory enforcement actions without criminal charges, and cases where crypto involvement is purely incidental are excluded. Exceptions may be made in sui generis matters where potentially criminal elements overlap civil proceedings.
Jurisdictional
7
Court, State, Division
Parties
6
Accused, Counsel, Judge
Charges
8
Offence, Statute, Counts
Crypto-Specific
9
Asset type, Volume, Wallet
Procedural
6
Plea, Bail, Trial mode
Evidentiary
5
Expert, Blockchain, Forensic
Outcome
7
Verdict, Sentence, Forfeiture
Metadata
6
Source, Date, Status