How To Buy Cryptocurrency In Nigeria

The recent directive from CBN to banks and financial institutions concerning crypto trading in Nigeria is no news again. But cryptonites are not giving up neither are they backing down!

All hands have been on deck (both exchanges and crypto traders themselves) to fathom out ways to help them keep trading cryptos seamlessly.

On that note, I bring you these amazing ways to bypass the CBN ban and still trade crypto… even with your NGN.

How to buy crypto in Nigeria after ban

Here The 9 Ways To Bypass The CBN Crypto Ban, This include:

1. P2P Enabled Wallets/Exchanges
2. OTC Exchanges/Traders
3. Use of E-Currencies
4. Creating an Ecobank Ghana Account
5. Acquiring NGNT Tokens
6. Coinbase and PayPal
7. Buying the Fiat NGN/NGN pair(NEW)
8. Internal Naira Transfer (NEW)
9. Remitano Naira Wallet (NEW)

Find more details below.

1. P2P Enabled Wallet/Exchange

Now you might be wondering what I mean by P2P enabled wallet. It’s simply the wallet of the P2P Exchanges; not a special kind of wallet.

Assuming you want to sell your BTC for NGN, this is how it works:

• Transfer your assets to a P2P enabled wallet/exchange. Examples include Binance, Remitano, Blockvila, Redeeem, etc.
• Check out the already placed Buy adverts and select who you want to sell to
• Your coin is held in the Escrow until you confirm receipt of payment to your bank account from the Buyer
• Then you can release the coins to your beneficiary’s address
• You can then cash out in NGN

2. OTC Exchanges/Traders

OTC exchanges are simply Broker exchanges. These platforms exchange your crypto for fiat and vice versa.

How this works is this:

• Look for a trusted exchange or trader within your network
• Send them your coins
• You will then receive the payment for the coins in your bank account (They will send this without using cryptocurrency as the transaction description)
• This way, you are still in business… Selling and receiving your coins..

3. Use of e-Currencies

Preceding the advent of cryptocurrencies are digital or electronic currencies (e-Currencies). e-Currencies are simply currencies that exist online. Examples are Perfect Money, Neteller, WebMoney, etc. Yes, cryptos exist online too and are very much digital assets but they differ from e-currencies.

Cryptocurrencies differ from this earlier generation of digital currencies in that they are decentralized and encrypted. These are unlike the traditional digital currencies that are mostly domiciled in USD and EUR and are centralized.

So back to our gist: How do I use it to bypass the CBN crypto ban?

To do that, you have to visit e-currencies exchanges and acquire them. Then you can use them to buy your cryptos or receive payments. You can hodl your funds in e-currencies or sell them off for NGN. A good exchange to buy and sell cryptos for e-currencies is Paybis

Now don’t stop reading at this point, there is more!

4. Creating an Ecobank Ghana Account

This is how this works:

• Create an Ecobank Ghana account as a non-resident
  Connect the account to your exchange of choice (e.g Luno, Binance, OKEx, etc)
• Carry out your transactions normally and withdraw your funds to the Ecobank Ghana account
• From there, you can move it to your Nigerian account
• Then withdraw your funds from there
• Simple as ABC!

Now we have 2 more ways to go. Keep reading!

5. Acquiring NGNT Tokens

NGNT (Nigerian Naira Token) is simply Naira in a tokenized form. It is a fiat-backed stable coin pegged to the Nigerian naira on a 1:1 ratio (i.e. 1NGNT equals 1NGN ).

The 2 major issuers are:

• Token Mint
• Cowrie Exchange
• There are also exchanges where you can buy NGNT e.g BuyCoins, Stellar DEX exchanges, and wallets.

What you can do is to buy this NGNT from its issuers or if you have it already, you can then use it to trade in place of the NGN.

This way, you are still using your NGN but in a tokenized form.

We are rounding up now. Let’s see the #6 way to get around this ban.

6. Coinbase and PayPal

This particular way will be really beneficial for Nigerians in the diaspora and all those who are able to open a Coinbase or a PayPal account.

This is how this works:

• Create an account with Coinbase and PayPal
• Connect both accounts
• Transfer all your assets from other wallets to your Coinbase wallet
• Withdraw from your Coinbase account to your PayPal account
• You can then transfer from your PayPal account to your Naira account

7. Buying the Fiat NGN/NGN Trading Pair

This service is offered by Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trade volume. Binance allows you to buy NGN on its P2P market. The fiat will be sent to your fiat wallet.

Works just like the normal P2P we know.

Steps:

• Create an account or log in to your Binance account
• Go to P2P and select someone to buy from
• Click on your preferred advert and send your payment to the person
• The fiat will be sent to your Binance P2P fiat wallet

While using this method, take note of the following:

Do not include any information about BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, and other digital asset names in the transfer notes to prevent the payment from being intercepted or bank funds from being frozen.

8. Internal Transfer of Naira

Quidax introduced this internal NGN transfer service on Feb. 25th 2021. This is to help its users get funds into their NGN wallet.

How this works is that someone within the same platform as you are will transfer NGN to you; just like sending cryptos to someone within the same exchange as you.

For example, if my friend, Gogo has a Quidax account just like me and needs funds in her NGN wallet, I can help her out.

I just need to get Gogo’s email address (the one she used to register on Quidax) or simply use her Quidax username and transfer the NGN to her.

She can transfer the NGN back to my NGN wallet when I need them or send it to my bank account. (Since she is my friend and someone I know very well, I can even collect cash).

This helps you to deposit or withdraw your NGN without much stress.

But before going ahead to use this service, take note of the following:

• You must complete Level 2 KYC (i.e BVN Verification) before you can use this service.
• The recipient must be registered on Quidax.
• The maximum and minimum amount you can send is dependent on your Account verification level. Each Account Verification level has a withdrawal limit. These limits also apply to internal NGN transfer.
• The recipient’s email address MUST be the one they used to register on Quidax

Another exchange that offers this service is Binance.

9. Remitano Fiat Wallet

Remitano introduced the fiat wallet feature to help its Nigerian users trade seamlessly. It is used to store your local fiat e.g the Naira NGN wallet stores Naira, and the ZAR wallet stores the South African Rand.

This fiat wallet allows you to instantly sell your bitcoin for any currencies supported by Remitano, and then transfer it into your local bank account.

How this works is:

• Transfer your coins from an external wallet
• Go to Remitano P2P and sell the coins to the buyer of your choice
• Go to your fiat wallets dashboard and click on ‘Withdraw’
• Enter the amount that you want to withdraw and add your bank account details. Then click on ‘Confirm’
• After submitting the withdrawal, you can check the status of the withdrawal in your NGN wallet transaction history.
• It doesn’t require any prolonged documentation or verification, you only need to do your KYC to have access to this feature.
• You can also deposit Naira into your fiat wallet to buy bitcoin on Remitano.

So there you have the ways you can get around the CBN crypto ban.