How To Buy Bitcoin in Nigeria

Ok, so perhaps you know the basics about Bitcoin. But how do you buy Bitcoin in Nigeria?

Luckily, there are a variety of ways to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria today and below is an honest and detailed guide to buying your first Bitcoin.

# 1 Buy Bitcoins with NairaEx

NairaEx is one of the best options out there for those of you asking how to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria. All you need to do is set up an account, indicate the amount of Bitcoins you want to buy and insert something called a “Bitcoin Address”.

Thinking of a Bitcoin Address as being similar to a bank account number. It’s a unique 26-35 digit combination of letters and numbers that “holds” your Bitcoins. It looks like this: 1ExAmpLe0FaBiTco1GAEr3sSV5tsFaMF4he.

In order to generate a Bitcoin Address, you will need to set up something called a Bitcoin Wallet. NairaEx recommends setting up a wallet with Blockchain.info. But there are hundreds of different Bitcoin wallets which you could use to set up your wallet.

Perhaps it seems an obvious point but make sure you check the BTC to Naira rate before you buy Bitcoin in Nigeria!

• KYC Checks: NairaEx’s KYC (“Know Your Customer”) checks will require you to send a valid governmental ID to kyc@nairaex.com in order to purchase Bitcoins on the site.
• Fees: Unfortunately, NairaEx hasn’t published the amount of commission it takes on each transaction. However, we assume there is some form of fee taken on transactions. Nobody works for free, right? 
• Rating: 7/10 – NairaEx is one of the best-known solution for buying Bitcoins in Nigeria. However, this platform loses marks for the lack of information on commissions. Keep in mind as well that NairaEx is a desktop solution only for the time being – we hope that they’ll release a mobile app version in the near future.

# 2 Buy Bitcoins with Luno

Luno (formerly known as Bitx) is a slick international wallet and exchange for buying Bitcoins. Better still, Luno is available for Nigerians looking to buy Bitcoin.

All you need to do is sign up, verify your identity (more on that under “KYC Checks” below), deposit your Naira funds and then you can feel free to buy Bitcoins. Luno has provided a useful step-by-step guide to the buying process.

One of the great features of Luno is that it provides a wallet service to its users. You will remember that NairaEx requires you to set up a separate wallet in order to receive a Bitcoin Address and purchase Bitcoins. Not with Luno. Because Luno offers its own wallet, any Bitcoins you buy on the platform will be stored using a Bitcoin Address associated with your Luno wallet.

• KYC Checks: Luno has very clear guidelines on its KYC checks. Firstly, Luno will send a confirmation code SMS to your selected mobile phone and you will need to enter this code into the website. You then need to upload to the site a document to the website which proves your identity (i.e. a high quality scan of your passport or National ID Card) and a document which proves your address (e.g. a lease agreement or utility bill).
• Fees: Luno states on its website that “no extra fees will be levied” when you buy Bitcoins through the website. What is even better is that Luno charges no fees for depositing Naira with the website, although there may be charges levied by your bank of course. But keep in mind that Luno does at the time of writing charge 100 NGN each time you want to withdraw funds from the website.
• Rating: 6/10. Luno is a fantastic option for those of you who are wondering how to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria. A big plus for Nigerian users of Luno is the fact that Luno has its own mobile app available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. 

# 3 Buy Bitcoins with LocalBitcoins 

Unlike NairaEx and Luno, LocalBitcoins is a P2P (peer to peer) Bitcoin platform where users can advertise the buying and selling of Bitcoins. The users define the exact payment method. But Nigerian users usually fund their purchase of Bitcoins via Perfect Money or Western Union.

Once a transaction is agreed, LocalBitcoins holds the Bitcoins in escrow until the seller confirms that they have been paid. Once the seller confirms payment, LocalBitcoins will release the Bitcoins from escrow and deposit them into your wallet on LocalBitcoins.

• Fees: LocalBitcoins claims that you can buy Bitcoins in Nigeria via its site for free. As a P2P platform, LocalBitcoins does not transact the payment between buyer and seller and therefore, doesn’t can’t charge commission on the sale amount. But keep in mind that you will still need to pay commission charges on the money transfer to your seller, whether that is via Western Union, Perfect Money or another intermediary.
  
• KYC Checks: LocalBitcoins is different from NairaEx and Luno in another important respect. It doesn’t request KYC documentation from users. Instead, it is up to the seller of the Bitcoins to request KYC documents as they feel appropriate.
• Rating: 5/10 – LocalBitcoins offers Nigerians the opportunity to buy Bitcoin in a slightly different manner to the options above. Users may be able to buy Bitcoins at a better value than elsewhere if a buyer needs to sell on a particular day.

# 4 How To Buy Bitcoin in Nigeria (In Years To Come…) 

With increasing uncertainty over the Naira, the popularity of Bitcoin is only set to increase in the years to come. It is surely only a matter of time before Nigerians are given more options to fund Bitcoin.

At the time of writing, there are a number of international exchanges such as Coinbase, Bitfinex and Circle which do not allow users to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria.

If more and more of you start asking how to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria, platforms such as CoinBase will allow Naira to Bitcoin exchanges in the future. For the time being, Nigerian buyers of Bitcoin will have to make do with the options we discussed above.

Meanwhile, vendors such as BitAccess and CoinOutlet  are starting to offer users the chance to buy Bitcoin in Europe and the US via ATMs. Maybe we’ll start seeing Bitcoin to Naira ATMs in Lagos and Abuja in the years to come.

Watch this space…

How do you buy Bitcoin in Nigeria? Which Bitcoin exchange in Nigeria do you use? Please comment below and let us know your experiences with Bitcoin in Nigeria.