The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed that more than $50 billion worth of cryptocurrency transactions were conducted in Nigeria between July 2023 and June 2024.
According to the capital market regulator, this volume of cryptocurrency reflects the growing sophistication and risk appetite of Nigerian investors outside the traditional capital market.
Director-General of the SEC, Emomotimi Agama, disclosed this in a lead paper titled “Evaluating the Nigerian Capital Market Masterplan 2015–2025” presented at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers.
Agama said that despite this surge in digital asset activity, fewer than four percent of Nigeria’s adult population participate in the traditional capital market — a figure he described as troubling for economic growth and capital formation.
He said: “While fewer than three million Nigerians invest in the capital market, more than 60 million engage daily in gambling activities, spending an estimated $5.5 million every day. This reveals a paradox — an appetite for risk clearly exists, but not the trust or access to channel that energy into productive investment.”
