Best Places to Buy Crypto in Nigeria Depending on Your Reason for Buying

People in Nigeria are forced to buy crypto and other assets, despite the unfriendly disposition of the Nigerian government towards the new form of money. Nigeria has one of the top acceptance rates as regards crypto currencies; in a recent year under review, the country ranked third in the world for volume of crypto currency trades, behind countries like the US and Russia.

Therefore, as a Nigerian now seeking for where to buy crypto currency it appears that you are a little late, but not too late. Crypto currency can still be bought and stored in Nigeria, even if not as freely as you could have bought crypto in a country like Canada.

However, before deciding on how or where to buy crypto currency in Nigeria let us first look at why you would want to buy crypto in Nigeria. From there we can then choose the best places, especially because some of these crypto dealers have tailor made services specially designed to suit particular needs.

Why do People Buy Crypto in Nigeria?

We can detail four important reasons why Nigerians buy crypto currencies. However, sometimes one user may be buying crypto for a combination of two or more reasons outlined here.

Hedging against the Nigerian Naira

The rate of inflation in Nigeria is alarming. On 31st December 2015 the Nigerian Naira (NGN) traded  at  NGN199.09 to USD1. By Dec 31st 2021, USD1 was 384.96 Nigerian Naira, and as at 25 August 2021, the exchange rate is 1 USD for NGN411.80. This data is taken from Free Currency Rates.

The situation is therefore understandably desperate for Nigerians, as it seems that not having a back-up plan, a store of wealth outside the Nigerian economy is financial suicide. Bitcoin and other crypto currencies seem to offer a viable opportunity to have some value outside Nigeria whose currency has been on a downward spiral.

To Aid Commerce

Nigeria has one of the highest densities of entrepreneurs and small businesses in Africa and the world, and a good deal of those businesses depend on purchases made from abroad.

Yes, the Nigerian banking system covers sending and receiving money to and from abroad, but this is usually difficult, especially as the government with its (inconsistent) policies can make access to USD almost impossible.

Many Nigerian businesses therefore found it necessary to seek other means of transacting business with the outside world, and crypto came to the rescue.

To Save for a Later Date

The banking system today has become increasingly ‘spend centered.’ Rather than help you save money, Nigerian banks just make it easier for you spend what you have by giving you apps, debit cards, and pin codes to punch into your phone. Furthermore, they actually encourage you to take loans to pay for everything, sometimes resulting in a heavy burden of interests and fees to pay.

It therefore a wise idea to keep some money aside which you can fall back on when the need arises. There are many ways of doing this, but many have chosen crypto as a means of saving money.

For Quick Profits

Nigerians have long traded stocks, and forex, and now that crypto currencies provide an additional avenue to make quick money, many Nigerians have quickly mastered the art of trading crypto currencies for profit.

Where can I Store/Trade Crypto in Nigeria?

Buying crypto in Nigeria may be a little different from the straight forward processes you have in countries like Canada and Australia. Here you have to worry about getting a Crypto wallet first. Actually getting the bitcoin and other crypto currency is mostly done via person to person transactions.

Now that we outlined the reasons why most Nigerians buy crypto currency, you just need to decide where to place yourself. We will now divide the exchanges into segments based on what services we adjudge them to better offer.

Where To Buy Crypto In Nigeria

Hedgers/Savers

Binance

Binance is the biggest name in the crypto currency at the moment. This is the company with the highest volume of daily crypto currency trades, and their recently launched Binance Coin is already the third largest crypto currency in the world by capitalization. Believe it or not, this company was only founded in 2017.

Binance is a company that offers great services in every aspect of crypto currency dealings. The exchange is great for those who wish to store their crypto currency for the long term. It is also great for trading: this is why the company has the largest volume of trades per day that you will find anywhere in the crypto industry.

Edited: Please note that there are several complaints about Binance freezing accounts of clients from Nigeria; causing the clients to lose access to their crypto and fiat funds. We will update this post as soon as we have received clarification from the company.

Quidax

Quidax is a crypto currency exchange and wallet that focuses its services mainly to the people of Africa. With this exchange Nigerians have the opportunity to buy, sell, and store your crypto currency; including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple’s, Litecoin and a very long list of new crypto currency projects.

Even though this is a relatively new company, it is steadily climbing in acceptance: the app has over 100,000 downloads on playstore.

Commerce (Buying and Selling)

Blockchain

Blockchain.com was established on 30 August 2011. This is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows you buy, store, sell and trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum, and several other such crypto currencies even in Nigeria.

What we like about this exchange is the ease with which you can send bitcoin to friends and associates using their platform. Blockchain works seamlessly on desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices.

In order to get crypto into your wallets you may have to depend on person to person exchanges of which there are numerous options. Across social media and even some physical locations.

Peer to Peer Dealers

Buy Bitcoin in Nigeria  with Paxful

https://paxful.com

NairaEx Bitcoin Exchange 

https://nairaex.com

Buy and sell bitcoins in Nigeria- LocalBitcoins

https://localbitcoins.com › country

CoinDirect

https://www.coindirect.com

Buycoins African Crypto Exchange

https://buycoins.africa

Buy and Sell Bitcoin in Nigeria with Remitano

https://remitano.com

Traders (for Quick Profits)

If you want to make profits as bitcoin or other crypto currencies rise in price then you do not exactly need to buy the crypto; you can instead buy a ‘position.’ This has been the practice for years with currencies, stocks, and metals.

You can then buy a position (either buy or sell) and then when the prices move, you would then make profits or losses, depending on whether your prediction is right or wrong. This is called spread-betting.

Here are a few companies that offer crypto currency spread betting for Nigerians.

Etoro

Etoro is not a crypto exchange. They are a world renowned spread betting company. This is the pioneer company that first brought the social trading idea to life, in which new traders are given the opportunity to copy from successful and experienced traders.

Etoro’s entry into the crypto market offers a unique opportunity to buy bitcoin in Nigeria without the worries that come with government restrictions.

Alpari

Alpari is another company that has long offered spread-betting to Nigerians. The company was established in Russia, but has offices in several countries of the world including Nigeria. With Alpari you can buy positions on bitcoin, ethereum, and many other crypto currencies.

FXTM

Forex Time is one of the first forex companies to embrace Nigerians and build a strong physical presence in the country. With this broker, Nigerians can buy positions in bitcoin and other crypto currencies. Furthermore, the company also allows you to copy the trades of successful traders with its social trading feature.

About 85 percent of traders lose their money. Please exercise caution.

What Will You Need in Order to Buy Crypto in Nigeria?

You will need a secure internet connection.

You will need an email address and mobile number.

You will need a means of personal identification. This could be your driver’s license or passport.

You may need a bank account.

You will need to open an account with a brokerage, and you may also need another account for the Person to Person exchange of the crypto.

Buying Crypto in Nigeria: Step by Step

You first go to the exchange (you select one from either sections Savers, Commerce, or Traders) you can choose from any section or even from outside our list, as this is not a comprehensive list.

After choosing your broker, you just click on register, and you are given a form in which you will put in your personal details. Please ensure that all the information you provide is correct.

After submitting your details the broker will probably send a link to your email, or a PIN to your mobile phone. Just to confirm your means of communication.

When you click the link your account should be activated and you should see an email to that effect. After that please verify your account by sending them your identity documents.

If you have chosen from the Savers/Hedgers, Commerce section you will also need to get an account with a Peer to Peer dealer. There are so many of them in the country, and we have only managed to list a few.

Ordinarily, you should now be able to buy crypto with a click, but for the period of the government ban you cannot directly buy crypto in Nigeria. Therefore you have to go back to the Peer to Peer website to buy a gift card, and then exchange it for btc or any other crypto.

You can get your bitcoin wallet address on the dashboard of your broker when you log in click on wallet. Then copy the address.

How to Store Your Crypto in Nigeria

Most people in Nigeria just store their bitcoin and other crypto by just keeping their crypto currency in their wallets. Crypto ATMs are rare in Nigeria, and so most people just do without them. Anyway, these are the major ways to store your crypto currency in Nigeria.

Hot Wallets: Hot wallets are provided by the exchange, or broker you choose and register with. They are an online way of saving your crypto with your broker. Hot wallets are readily available when you go online to your broker, and login with your details.

However, they are not suited for keeping your crypto currency for a long. Hot wallets designed to help you quickly trade off, or sell your crypto currencies.

Cold Wallets: cold wallets take your crypto currencies off the grid, and save them literally in your basement, or vault, or wherever you choose to put them. They are small electronic devices that store your keys, and keep them off the internet. They are sometimes designed like USB flash drives, or external hard-drives which you would then plug into your computer to access your crypto currency.

Conclusion:

We dedicate this section of the article towards warning you of the risks involved in trying to buy Crypto in Nigeria.

First: crypto currencies are notoriously volatile in price. They can suddenly plummet in value wiping out traders and investors without warning.

Second: Spread betting is a very risky venture. It has been reported that as high as 85 percent of traders lose their money.

Third: Beware of shitcoins- crypto currencies with no use case scenarios, which are often seen as attractive to newbies because of their low prices. New investors often think that they will make a lot of money when the cryptos increase in price, but in reality they make loses.

Four: Beware of ponzi schemes. If anyone promises to pay you a certain percent of your investment periodically, and ask you to pay either in fiat or crypto, he is likely trying to lure you into committing your money into a ponzi scheme which will soon collapse.