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You'll need a Bitcoin wallet before you buy since some exchanges require one.

Don't have a wallet? Read our guide on the best Bitcoin & cryptocurrency wallets.

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How to Trade Bitcoin & Crypto in Nigeria

Beyond simply buying and selling Bitcoin, many people are interested in actively trading crypto.

While Luno or NairaEX will let you do this, their interfaces are similar to Coinbase in that they're geared toward retail investing rather than trading. Additionally, liquidity may not be great enough on these smaller exchanges to avoid slippage, which will cut into your profitable trades and magnify your losses.

The best platforms for trading are the large exchanges with global coverage. These exchanges list hundreds of asset pairs, have deep orderbooks, and are less prone to downtime than smaller operations.

You may find CoinMarketCap's ranking of exchanges by overall liquidity useful when deciding where to take your business.

In addition to Binance - whose offerings tailored to Nigerian customers we went through above - some good choices of exchange are Kraken, Bitfinex, and Coinbase Pro.

All of these exchanges will provide you with a customizable trading interface, complete with all the tools and indicators you could need to maximize your chances of trading profitably.

How to Sell Bitcoin in Nigeria

We've compiled a list of the best Bitcoin exchanges in Nigeria, from locally-operated exchanges to worldwide market leaders with especially good offerings for Nigerian users.

NairaEX

NairaEX touts itself as "Nigeria's Premier Bitcoin Exchange" and it is indeed the only Nigeria-based exchange currently open for trading.

The only fiat currency that NairaEX currently accepts is the Nigerian Naira (NGN).

You can only buy and sell with/to NGN, meaning conversions between BTC and ETH or other supported assets are not possible.

NairaEX currently supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum.

There are no additional trading fees for buying or selling on NairaEX. Instead, fees are baked into the price of the asset. You can see the current spread on NairaEX's homepage.

One major benefit of NairaEX's setup is that it is a non-custodial exchange. This means that your assets are not held in a centralized wallet, which are prone to hacks, but instead are sent directly to your own wallet once the transaction has been processed.

NairaEX supports buying and selling with the Nigerian Naira (NGN) as well as Perfect Money. Their official blog has a helpful post outlining the differences between Bitcoin and Perfect Money for those unfamiliar with both e-currencies.

Signup requires access to a Nigerian phone number.

You do not need to complete identity verification to sell Bitcoin, but in order to buy NairaEX requires your Bank Verification Number (BVN), an acceptable Government-Issued Photo ID, and a selfie of you holding your Photo ID card with today’s date and NairaEx written on a piece of paper.

NairaEX also has a Pro offering, which enables trading using conventional market interfaces as well as an extra currency pair: USDT/NGN.

Luno

Luno was originally launched as BitX in 2013 and since then it has grown to be a player in some niche markets around the world. Deriving most of its volume from South Africa, Luno is also popular in Nigeria and has recently expanded to service Bitcoiners in Uganda too. Add to this list Europe, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and you've got yourself an exchange worth considering.

Luno aims to provide a competing service to Coinbase, and has made its offerings available in many countries not served by the larger exchange.

Since our original in-depth review of Luno, they've added support for Litecoin, which along with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP are available for trading.

Buying and Selling

Notably, Luno allows you to purchase crypto using a credit card. Fiat trading pairs that are available include EUR, IDR, MYR, NGN, UGX, ZAR, and ZMW. You can deposit and withdraw directly to a bank account.

Luno also offers Paystack and PayU deposits for Nigerian customers.

When trading, market makers pay 0% fees, while market takers pay from 0.25% to 0.15%, depending on their 30 day trading volume. These fees are very competitive compared to other exchanges.

Luno's daily volume is relatively low at a daily avwerage of ~USD$4.75MM over the last year. This puts it in 203rd place out of 389 in Nomics' review of exchanges by liquidity and transparency.

Features

Luno boasts a clean trading interface in the same style as most, meaning you shouldn't have much trouble switching over from a different exchange. You can trade on the Luno app, which is available for iOS and Android.

More advanced features include API integration for automated trading, liquidity depth indicators, and the ability to export your trade history in a .csv file for when the time comes to file your taxes.

LocalBitcoins

Local Bitcoins is a great option for buying and selling Bitcoin in Nigeria using a variety of payment methods.

From the looks of it, bank transfers are especially popular in Nigeria.

Once a deal is opened, the seller will fund the escrow wallet with the Bitcoin to be bought. The buyer will transfer the money and once the seller confirms receipt they will release the BTC. Should there be any disagreement, the BTC will stay locked in escrow until a solution is found, which may require LocalBitcoins stepping in to act as mediators.

Binance

Recently, Binance has been greatly expanding its support for Nigerian users.

Early in 2020, Binance hosted its first ever Crypto Masterclass in Benin, Nigeria. These events are run by local experts and aim to educate and raise awareness about Bitcoin and blockchain.

Complementing its education program, Binance has also made it easier than ever for Nigerians to buy, sell, and trade crypto on its platform.

You can now deposit NGN directly into your Binance account using a credit or debit card, following a partnership with Flutterwave.

In addition to allowing users to buy Bitcoin with a debit or credit card, Binance also has a peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace, similar to Paxful or LocalBitcoins.

Unlike Paxful or LocalBitcoins however, Binance P2P does not charge any transaction fees. The price you see is the price you get.

Binance has a useful support guide for P2P trading here.

Binance's strong advocacy programs and the fact that it makes an effort to cater to under-served users who can most benefit from Bitcoin means that the exchange stands out from the pack.

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Nigeria is home to several small to medium sized Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges.

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There are three main types of Bitcoin wallet and all of them are supported in Nigeria:

• Software (desktop or mobile - iOS and Android wallets
• Hardware wallet
• Cold-storage (paper or steel wallets, the latter of which are used to backup your main wallet.

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We've got a chart here at Buy Bitcoin Worldwide that tracks the up to the minute price of Bitcoin and provides historical data in USD.

You can check out the Bitcoin Volatility Index or see how many days it's been since the last all time high (ATH). We also have a chart displaying the price of Bitcoin in grams and ounces of gold.

For price data in a range of foreign currencies, such as Naira, Luno has a page where you can check the price of Bitcoin in any of their supported fiat pairs, which include EUR, GBP, IDR, MYR, NGN, PLN, SGD, UGX, USD, ZAR, and ZMW.

Source: Luno

Alternatively, if you use a portfolio tracker such as Delta or Blockfolio, you can set the reference currency as the Nigerian Naira (NGN) and get an accurate price of Bitcoin and all 10,000 supported assets in your currency of choosing.

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Does Coinbase Work in Nigeria?

Nigeria is currently not supported by Coinbase, meaning Nigerian users are unable to access the exchange.

However, anyone can use Coinbase Wallet which enables the sending and receiving of cryptocurrencies. You just won't be able to buy, sell, or convert from one crypto to another on Coinbase.