The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says Nigeria’s cryptocurrency market has recorded $50 billion in transactions between July 2023 and June 2024.

In a statement on Sunday, Emomotimi Agama, the SEC director-general (DG), noted that the transactions starkly contrast with the country’s traditional capital market, with fewer than 4 percent of adults being active investors.

Agama explained that the cryptocurrency exchange underscores the sophistication and risk tolerance of investors that the traditional market has yet to capture.

In a lead paper titled ‘Evaluating the Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan 2015-2025,’ presented at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Agama raised concern over the alarmingly low participation of Nigerians in the traditional capital market.

The SEC DG described the low participation rate as a major impediment to economic growth and capital formation.

He said that 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.

The SEC boss also lamented that Nigeria’s market capitalisation to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio stands at about 30 percent.