6 Best cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria -free,easy-to-use and profitable

Your chances of getting the most from cryptocurrency are bested by the power to select the best cryptocurrency exchanges that satisfy your geography and need!

In recent years Nigeria is listed among the highest countries dominating the cryptocurrency world.

Nigeria has the very best search queries for cryptocurrency globally according to google in 2017 alone. Last year, cryptocurrency soared to a replacement height by reaching 40k value with over 300,000 daily transactions.

The most populated country in Africa was ranked third place after the USA and Russia, generating quite $400m (N190 billion) worth of transactions within the $1 trillion markets! Several businesses in Nigeria has begun the adoption of cryptocurrency( mostly bitcoin) as a way of payment.

According to a global consumer survey, which covers over 74 countries suggest Nigerians were the foremost likely to mention they used or owned cryptocurrency

THE END OF AN EMPIRE 

Early this year financial institution of Nigeria throws a shocker to Nigeria crypto market with its bans, this cause a serious setback to Nigeria cryptocurrency investors annual plan.

The ban imposed By CBN threatens Nigeria competitive position within the global cryptocurrency market

However, some Exchanges adopt new options [p2p for example] for the continuity of their services to Nigerian customers. Unfortunately, the Majority of indigenous exchanges have seized their operation.

To some investors, it is the end of the cryptocurrency journey but to others, it’s just a ‘stumbling block’!

In this article, I will be discussing top exchanges that are still ‘nailing’ it, in terms of their services to Nigerians after the CBN bans!

 What are Exchanges? 

This is a digital currency platform that permits customers to shop for and sell cryptocurrency for other assets, like conventional fiat money[e.g. Naira, dollars}or other digital currencies

 As of the time of writing this article, there are ‘604’ cryptocurrency exchanges globally, ‘308’ out of those numbers are well developed, while others are still emerging

Over $65 million worth of crypto are traded monthly in Nigeria, a mean of $100 was spent on the average per trade, compared to the USA, whose average spent on each trade was $215. Nigeria crypto market remains doing pretty much!

How to Select the best cryptocurrency exchanges?

Firstly, Before I start engaging with any cryptocurrency exchange, I might want to do my investigation regarding the exchange, I don’t want to lose my hard-earned money out of ignorance, I think you don’t want to also 

Below are what I check before I begin with any exchange platform

 Exchange reputation-What are people saying about the platform?

For an investor who seeks the simplest for his investment, a review from a reliable source like a popular platform about an exchange you’re considering.

 A review from a reliable source like a popular platform about an exchange you’re considering should be at the top of your list, what ten or more people are saying, the reality isn’t far away from it. Search reputable online platforms to ascertain reviews regarding the exchange. Are there frequent customer complaints?. personally, I exploit Reddit, bitcoin forum.net among others for this purpose

Exchange Service geographical status-Does the country{Nigeria} allow their services?

There is no reason to break a sweat, trying to use an exchange if their services are constrained In Nigeria, A perfect example is Coinbase exchange, which disables access to their service from Nigeria 

That could be a result of some guidelines put aside by the Nigeria government that an exchange must undergo before operating within the region, a lengthy and expensive procedure discourage some exchange to operate

The best way to check an exchange service geographical status-go to the official site of the exchange, see the list of nations they supply services, check if Nigeria is included

Exchange Trading Potential- what sorts of cryptocurrency are available for trading? 

This should be your determining factor of selecting any exchange, an exchange that provides sorts of cryptocurrency for its customer are often both good and bad With sorts of cryptocurrencies, the choices to select are wide right? ,

However, this imperils you to greater risk because the exchange might not do background research on the coin they’re offering. The risk is going to be passed to the purchasers alone, so it’s strongly advisable to try to do your research before getting with any coin

Funding procedure mechanisms the platform allow?

Funding your account in some Exchanges could be difficult thanks to local restrictions.

 For instance; due to the CBN ban, its impossible to fund an exchange using debit/credit card in Nigeria 

Exchange funding system dictate if you will be using a given platform

However, if you already have tons of crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, it is easy to fund your account in different exchanges, then convert it to your wanted coin in a given exchange. As most exchanges accept both coins(bitcoin, Ethereum)

Funding procedures simply available to Nigerians include direct bank transfer, transfer of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum etc

Exchange KYC and AML status requirement for Nigerians

know your customer(KYC) and anti-money laundering(AML) is compulsory for any operational exchanges, this is to curb illegal activities.

Exchanges have developed different methods to verify customer identity- it includes upload of images and national card etc . Due to the time interval for this process, some exchanges are better than others.

Are they backed by the insurance company?

Every exchange is almost like a physical company, if it encounters unplanned financial losses, the chances of its survival lies with its insurance status.

Coin base was the primary exchange to supply insurances to its customers Unfortunately, indigenous exchanges in Nigeria fail during this aspect.

Best cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria for Trading

• Binance
• Luno
• Ftx trading

Three best cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria for staking

• Binance
• Bitfinex
• Kraken

Five best cryptocurrency exchanges In Nigeria for buying and selling

• Nairaex
• Local bitcoin
• Binance
• Yellowcash
• Kraken
• Luno

The best cryptocurrency exchanges for trading

Binance

Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, it provides a platform for trading various cryptocurrencies. Binance is trusted by millions of users worldwide.

As of the time of scripting this article, Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world based on trading volume. One cool thing about Binance is the weekly customers’ challenge, where everyone gets an opportunity to win rewards in sort of cryptocurrencies or fiat currency(Naira, dollars).

For traders, I strongly recommend Binance

• Prons:
• Profit margin calculation while trading crypto
• KYC AND AML requirement difficult level- medium
• Quick and smooth registration process
• Multiple payment methods and fiat currencies
• Support p2p – Binance p2p
• Cons
• Supports wide ranges of Crypto-assets
• it has been hacked

 FTX trading

FtX was founded in 2018 by former google programmer Gary Wang and former jane street capital international ETF desk trader – ‘Sam Bankman-Fried’

FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange built by a trader for traders.

FTX is among the top five exchanges by volume.

in May 2019, FTX announced Binance has become a big supporter of the platform via a strategic investment into the platform. However, the amount was undisclosed

FTX has different account levels with different requirement-individual and company accounts have different requirements.

• PROs
• With this exchange
• You don’t need KYC to trade
• FTX guarantees liquidity
• Low fees
• It is specialized in derivatives trading
• Cons
• It is a comparatively new platform
• It leverage token are risky 

Five best cryptocurrency exchanges for buying and selling

Remitano

It provides escrowed P2P cryptocurrency marketplace where people buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum,litecoin, ripple easily and safely in Nigeria.

It was launched in 2014, available in several countries like Malaysia, Australia, Nigeria Indonesia among others.

Remitano is that the best choice if you’re considering buying your crypto assets in Nigeria because it uses a secure system called escrow I.e crypto is going to be held by a 3rd party on behalf of transacting parties to make sure a secure and successful transaction.

Considering its rating across reputable websites, Romitano is well appreciated by its customer

Localbitcoin

It is a peer to peer marketplace, which facilitates the buying and selling of bitcoin with the utilization of local currency- Naira.

Founded by Jeremias Kangas in June 2012.

Thousands of Nigerians use this platform for purchasing and selling bitcoin LocalBitcoin may be a decent place to shop for your bitcoin but you’ve got to try to do your diligence to avoid getting scam

Patricia

Founded by a 25-year-old Nigerian Entrepreneur – Hanu Fejiro Agbodje

Patricia allows you to securely buy or sell gift cards and bitcoin of any value. It is one of the newest cryptocurrency exchanges available in both Nigeria and Ghana.

Based on customer rating, several complaints have been raised regarding customers care and inability to convert their cryptocurrency within the exchange wallet to fiat currency – Naira. in terms of reputation, this platform isn’t doing that well

NairaEx

It allows users to shop for and sell sorts of cryptocurrencies- bitcoin, Ethereum, bitcoin cash and excellent money in Nigeria

It’s a reliable site that provides standard services to Newbies

Its support different sorts of funding system like bank transfer, open-end credit among others at an ideal rate

Binance

Binance, arguably the most important crypto exchange within the internet, Binance P2P support the P2P trading where Nigerians can purchase and sell their crypto assets at zero fees

on Binance p2p you’ve got the opportunities to settle on your preferred counterpart and payment methods for your trades, the supposed crypto assets are escrowed by Binance to stop Scam

Most Nigerians using Binance preferred Bank transfer option

Binance has maintained an honest reputation over the years -so its highly recommend

HONORABLE MENTION

LUNO–

LUNO is that the largest cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy and sell good sorts of crypto assets in africa

its services are available in over 40 countries which incorporates Nigeria

Over 3 million Nigerians are currently using this platform, it’s a really easy user interface-anybody can get with this platform

However, the recent CBN ban has put a stop to the Luno operation in Nigeria.

Although the LUNO founder Marcus Swanepoel through his open message to the customers promises the issue is going to be resolved and that the exchange will begin stronger

Three best cryptocurrency exchange for staking

• Binance
• Bitfinex
• Kraken

Although it’s not advisable to staking with exchange due to some dangers your crypto assets could also be exposed to, but below are exchanges that attract low risks

Binance

If you consider the old way of investment – HODL, then you should try Binance staking- lock up( Staking) your crypto within the exchange for a period of your time and receive more crypto of an equivalent kind after the staking tenure

To start Staking on Binance, check the lists of crypto-assets Binance is supporting for staking. Currently, you can stake the following coins in Binance – Stellar, Tezos, Loom, Trons, Algorand, Kava among others

Binance staking tenure for varieties Crypto assets differ from each other- weekly, monthly, and yearly. The longer your agreed staking tenure, the larger your staking reward.

Binance support staking from Nigeria and charges zero fees for this service.
However, staking is highly risky especially with the exchange because your Crypto-assets become susceptible to hacking and market liquidity. staking with a wallet attract low risk

Bitfinex

Bitfinex offers a soft staking program- a process that permits users to receive staking rewards without ever locking their crypto

You can stake as low as 50 nairas in Bitfinex to start out receiving your staking reward

Bitfinex supports a good range of cryptocurrencies which incorporates Ripple, NEO, Algorand, EOS, TRON, Tezos, KAVA etc

Kraken

Compare to other staking services, at Kraken there is no minimal staking time needed to earn a gift.

For instance
You start earning rewards as soon as you have completed your staking process I.e if you stake for a few hours and choose to un stake, you’d still be credited on subsequent disburse day which occurs twice every week . in other exchanges, nothing is going to be given

Currently, Kraken service is available in Nigeria and offers to stake for Cardano (ADA), Cosmos (ATOM), Ethereum (ETH), Kusama(KSM), Polkadot(DOT), Solana(SOL) and Tezos (XTZ)

The way forward for financial freedom for Nigeria youths!

It’s my belief, as a Nigerian youth, the key step to be unshakable financially within the future amidst the bad economy is to stop saving and start investing!

According to research over 7.8 million, Nigerians are investing in cryptocurrencies and this digital asset has given birth to a lot of millionaires.

It’s never too late to hitch the train, start investing now.