How To Buy Bitcoin In Nigeria In 2024

Is buying Bitcoin a good idea in Nigeria?

Absolutely! When you compare it to traditional banking services, buying Bitcoin offers lower fees, which makes it a more budget-friendly option for many Nigerians. But that's just the beginning. For many Nigerians, Bitcoin is more than just a purchase; it's a popular investment choice offering the potential for significant returns. Embracing Bitcoin allows them to tap into this promising investment opportunity.

Let's look at some of the reasons why it's a good idea in more detail:

• Bitcoin is the largest crypto asset. Simply put, Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency. As such, it has the highest liquidity, which means you’ll be able to buy and sell it easily at the best prices

• It's a hedge against inflation. A hedge protects you against the decreasing value of a currency during times of increased inflation. It's for this reason that investors often turn to assets like gold as a hedge. Here, Bitcoin is also an excellent hedge against inflation. In fact, many view Bitcoin as digital gold. And this is an especially important benefit when, nowadays, there's an increased risk of inflation around the world

• Demand for Bitcoin. One of the reasons why there's an increased risk for inflation is that governments globally are able to print as much of their currency as they want. In other words, there's an infinite supply of fiat currency. In contrast, Bitcoin only has a finite supply because only 21 million Bitcoin will be mined. This means that, as more people become involved in Bitcoin, the demand will increase, and supply will decrease. This, in turn, leads to higher prices

• Increased adoption. A recent survey showed that more than 50% of all Bitcoin investors invested within the past 12 months. Moreover, 44% of the respondents in the survey said that they are now favourable towards Bitcoin. This shows increased adoption of the cryptocurrency. In addition to this, more institutions are investing in and adopting Bitcoin. In turn, the increased adoption by both retail and institutional investors leads to more demand

• It can help you diversify. Let's face it, diversification is always a good idea. It could help you increase the return on your investments and, more importantly, limit your risk. Bitcoin is an excellent tool to help you do this, as it's not correlated to other currencies and other traditional assets. As such, it could protect your portfolio when many other assets decrease in value

Best options to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria

Traders Union experts have compared some of the best options to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria in the comparison table below for you to make the best decision.

How to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria: Step- by- step

• 1

  Create an account with an exchange. First things first, kindly go to the exchange's website of your choice and create an account

• 2

  Complete the Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process. After signing up, you will be asked to provide your personal documents, which must be submitted in order to complete this verification process

• 3

  Make a fiat deposit. After verification, you must now fund your exchange account with Nigerian Naira in order to purchase Bitcoin. There are a lot of deposit methods available

• 4

  Buy cryptocurrency. Go to the trading area of the website after your money has been deposited into your exchange account and choose Bitcoin (BTC)

• 5

  Send your Bitcoin to a personal wallet. After buying your Bitcoin, TU experts advise that you move your purchased Bitcoin to a personal wallet for additional security

How to buy Bitcoin with PayPal

• 1

  Sign up for PayPal. To get started, you will need to create a PayPal account before you can buy Bitcoin. Go to the PayPal website and sign up for an account if you haven't done so already

• 2

  Click on buy and sell. Proceed to the buy and sell section of your PayPal account after logging in to see your cryptocurrency options

• 3

  Click on Bitcoin and buy. From the list of available digital currencies, choose Bitcoin and click on buy to start the buying process

• 4

  Enter the amount of BTC you want to buy. In this step, you will now have to enter the desired amount of Bitcoin you want to buy

• 5

  Select your payment method and click next. Select the payment option that best fits you and click next. This may involve linking your credit or debit cards or a bank account

• 6

  Check the conversion rate and transaction fee. Finally, check the current conversion rate as well as any related transaction fees before confirming the purchase

How to buy Bitcoin with a credit card

• 1

  Open an account. First, you have to register for an account on a trustworthy cryptocurrency exchange that accepts credit card purchases

• 2

  Deposit funds with a credit card. Go to the exchange's deposit section after setting up your account and select a credit card method to make the deposit

• 3

  Choose your cryptocurrency. After making deposits, you can now go ahead and purchase Bitcoin (BTC) as your chosen cryptocurrency

• 4

  Pay and receive your crypto. Indicate the desired quantity of Bitcoin to be purchased, then finalise the transaction

Other options for buying Bitcoin in Nigeria

• 1

  Bitcoin ATMs. Bitcoin ATMs are physical machines that let you purchase Bitcoin with cash or credit/debit cards. In Nigeria, Bitcoin ATMs are not yet available

• 2

  P2P exchanges. P2P exchanges enable individuals to buy and sell Bitcoin directly to one another easily, e.g. Binance P2P

• 3

  Mainstream brokerages. Trading services for cryptocurrencies are now available on some mainstream brokerage platforms, such as eToro and Robinhood

Where to store Bitcoin in Nigeria

The best way to secure your Bitcoin for long term storage is through the use of a cold storage wallet.

To secure your Bitcoin from theft or hackers, it's important to use a cold storage wallet that doesn't allow the online payments you make to be linked with your public address. These wallets are offline and decentralised, meaning they're stored on your computer and not a third party server, giving you less exposure to potential breaches.

For quick payments, you can use a hot wallet. A hot wallet is one that is connected to the internet. A good example of this would be an online cryptocurrency exchange like Binance. The best Bitcoin wallets are hardware wallets, which provide you with additional security measures and leverage on the Bitcoin's protocol to ensure your funds are safe.

How can I use Bitcoin in Nigeria?

Amidst the country's restrictions on its availability, Bitcoin is primarily used for investment purposes in Nigeria. Many find that Bitcoin's characteristic as a safer asset during times of inflation make it a good option for hedging the uncertain economic conditions in the country.

As an asset that is easily able to be transferred internationally and with little restriction, it is mainly used in P2P transactions and transfers. It is also used for some private purchase transactions online, such as for the payment of services or products between private parties.

Aside from this, it has little value in day to day transactional use, not being considered a legal form of tender in the country of Nigeria.

Is Bitcoin Legal in Nigeria?

The most popular cryptocurrency criticisms in Nigeria are related to its usage being linked to criminal activities. Unfortunately for law enforcement, cryptocurrencies are designed to be decentralised, which implies that they are intentionally built with the intention of being uncontrollable by a central authority. Although banks and other financial organisations are prohibited from trading in cryptocurrencies in the country, cryptocurrencies are not illegal, simply unregulated.

Despite the fact that Nigeria is not a cryptocurrency mining nation, its inhabitants are quite familiar with cryptocurrencies. In fact, according to Paxful, Nigeria is second only to the United States for bitcoin trading, mainly because many Nigerians have opted to use bitcoin to safeguard their money against Naira depreciation.

Since bitcoins are not tied to the value of any country’s currency, their price is purely determined by demand and supply in the global market. Nigeria is one of the many countries in which cryptocurrency trading is popular due to compliance issues which make it hard for people to take advantage of other investment vehicles like Forex and gold. Many people in Nigeria have opted to invest in cryptos because they do not trust their government and monetary policies due to previous financial scandals. Cryptocurrencies offer an opportunity for these traders to save their money which otherwise would have been lost if they kept it in Naira, the local currency. Because of these factors, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remain prevalent assets in Nigeria, and are only expected to become more popular.

Is Bitcoin trading Halal?

Something is "haram" or unlawful according to Islamic law when the Qur'an decrees it so. Gambling and riba, also known as interest or usury, also forbidden by the Holy Qur'an, something that has caused some to question Bitcoin's sanctity in relation to Islam.

Because of its tumultuous and unpredictable nature, some have argued that the trading of Bitcoin violates Islamic principles in this way.

However, many have pointed out that not all involvement with Bitcoin trading involves high risk, and that in many ways it emulates the behaviours and principles of regular currencies.

Finally, according to most Muslim theologians, it has been deemed permissible to exchange currencies on a spot basis. This is due to the fact that spot settlement may have a considerably decreased amount of usury by nature. Muslim theologians have reached a consensus that Forex trading can be considered halal on this basis.

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Is Bitcoin trading taxable in Nigeria?

There is currently no specific cryptocurrency tax legislation in Nigeria. Nonetheless, it is now evident from the Federal Inland Revenue Service that cryptocurrency-related transactions are subject to capital gains tax. This suggests that Nigerian individuals or entities that profit from the purchase and sale of digital assets, like cryptocurrencies, will soon be required to pay 10% tax on such gains in line with the recently established tax reforms.