Best Practices to Sell and Trade Bitcoin in Nigeria

On August 14 this year, the National Bureau of Statistics announced that Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 27.1% in the second quarter of 2020. Amid the rising unemployment rate in Nigeria and the weakening of the naira currency, young people are forced to become entrepreneurs in order not to be swept away by the flood of poverty.

With the emergence and growth of cryptocurrency, particularly bitcoin, Nigeria’s younger population has embraced the gains which lie therein.

Be it out of curiosity or an attempt to “cash-out”, more Nigerians are investing in the digital gold: bitcoin. To trade and sell bitcoin in Nigeria has become an idea that is quickly gaining traction amongst those who are perceptive of the potential profits of cryptocurrency.

Despite some people seeing them as speculative assets, Cryptocurrencies have gained prominence in Nigeria since they are used as a medium for settling cross-border payments and for international remittances.

Little wonder why data from Local.Bitcoin.com showed that Nigeria overtook the United States as the country with the most downloads of the bitcoin wallet between 16 and 10 August 2020. In fact, out of the 18,613 wallets downloaded during that period, 3,473 were from Nigeria, beating the 2,802 from the United States and India’s 1,420 downloads.

If that’s not impressive enough, data obtained from usefultulips, a BTC analytic data provider, indicates that the use of Bitcoin for peer-to-peer lending in Nigeria is on the rise.

Specifically, it puts Nigeria as leader of Africa peer-to-peer lending in 2020, posting weekly volumes of about $8million, followed by South Africa and Kenya posting about $2 million.

Legality to trade and sell bitcoin in Nigeria

Despite the growing interest in bitcoin in Nigeria, a question that is commonly asked with regards to cryptocurrency remains, “is bitcoin trading legal in Nigeria”? 

Well in one of our previous articles we categorically stated that there is no law in the country that makes dealing and trading in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, illegal or criminal.

This is so because there is yet to be any legal framework put in place to either legalize or criminalize trading in digital currencies, which obviously is free from the government’s control.

More on Bitcoin legality in Nigeria: Click here to learn more.

In recognition of the opportunities which cryptocurrency offers those who key into it, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had advocated for legislation (s), saying:

“I think the world is taking the issue of cryptocurrency and block-chain technology seriously. We don’t want to be left behind, and we have to take it seriously.”

Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

As of July 28th, 2020, the Ministry of Justice sent some bills to the National Assembly to provide a legislative framework for digital currency, enshrine transparency in the digital financial sub-sector of the economy and prepare the country for emerging realities relating to digital cash.

So until then, we can safely say that engaging in cryptocurrency transactions in Nigeria does not amount to “criminality”, however, it is what the cryptocurrency user does with it or in the process of the transaction that determines its legal or illegal status.

Peer-to-peer trades via WhatsApp

It is no more news that the use of social media has filtered into almost all spheres of the Nigerian life, with bitcoin users not left behind.

Whatsapp groups have come to be one of the easiest and most common ways to buy and sell Bitcoin across Nigeria. Under this platform, users add their friends to the group and the group admin serves as the “escrow service” for the trade, ensures a safe and secure sale and charges the crypto buyer a small commission. In these groups of usually about 150-200 members, Bitcoin/Naira is the most traded pair. 

Nonetheless, some fraud may occur in such platforms, leaving users scammed of their money and bitcoin.

Payment for goods via bitcoin

The number of Nigerian company that are accepting cryptocurrency as payment methods and making good use of blockchain technology is gradually increasing. 

To mention a few, GSm2me, a mobile airtime and SMS bundle platform, accepts bitcoin as a legal tender. Minku, an online shop is an example of how customers can buy fashion items and leather accessories. Similarly, Paychant helps businesses to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies payments in a way that they are familiar with.

Compared to other means of transferring funds, cryptocurrency transactions are much faster with less bureaucracy unlike bank transfers, which are cheaper in terms of fees, and have fixed transaction charges in terms of transaction size. 

However, users are strongly advised to be sure of their transaction before hitting the “complete” button because unlike bank transfers, bitcoin payment is irreversible as is the case with other cryptocurrencies.

Sell bitcoin in Nigeria with Easy Crypto

One major concern for bitcoin users is SAFETY. Some users have suffered theft of their digital investments and were unable to retrieve them mainly due to the nature of bitcoin (unlike bank transactions). This is the main reason for a bitcoin user to trade only on secured platforms; one of which is Easy Crypto Nigeria.

Interested to invest? Check the current rates for Bitcoin, Tron and other crypto in Nigeria with our tracker.

Additionally, those who wish to add another layer of safety to secure their cryptocurrency assets can invest in a physical hardware wallet from the likes of Trezor and Ledger. These are highly secure wallets that function to protect your public and private keys, as well as a way to authenticate every transaction you make on the blockchain.

Shop now for Bitcoin wallets: View our products page at Easy Crypto.

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Disclaimer: This article is not an investment advice. However, at Easy Crypto Nigeria, we are open to giving further information, clarification and counsel on the subject matter. Please contact our team for more information or discussion.