Bitcoin cryptocurrency investment is becoming popular in Nigeria!
However, most people are still overwhelmed by the numerous number of cryptocurrency exchange platforms available online today.
Due to individual preferences and needs, everyone’s taste and experiences differs, and that is to say, you may not want to buy Bitcoin cryptocurrency asset from the same exchange as another person bought.
Just know there is no one size fits all when it comes to choosing best cryptocurrency exchange for Bitcoin online transactions, so don’t be overwhelmed yet.
There are many crypto exchange websites online for Nigerians to buy Bitcoin online, but it is not all of them that has the feature to buy Bitcoin with a debit or credit card instantly.
As that has been said, i have taken my time to go through websites that accept usage of credit/debit cards for Bitcoin purchase in Nigeria.
I found out that only few of these sites allow people to buy BTC with debit/credit cards from all countries (including Nigeria).
In this tutorial and guide, am going to show you how to buy Bitcoin by debit card (i.e. with your local bank ATM Credit and Debit cards).
But before you start thinking of where you can buy Bitcoin in Nigeria online from debit card, it is very important to learn about how to secure your crypto investment with safe wallets.
In addition to securing your cryptocurrency investment with the a secure wallet, you should also understand how you can safely guard your crypto wallet from loss, hacking, misplacement, armed robbers or theft etc.
Then after that, you can proceed reading below, to understand the best place you should buy Bitcoin (BTC) in Nigeria with your debit or credit card.
I know you are knowledgeable enough, so let’s begin now.
Hope you are ready?
What is the best site to buy Bitcoin in Nigeria
Before we get started with how to buy Bitcoins in Nigeria with your ATM (Debit or Credit) cards.
It would be necessary to list some recommended exchanges you can use, while you are in Nigeria to buy BTC with debit cards safely.
Using a credit/debit card to buy Bitcoins from exchanges was not that easy initially.
There were lots of online exchanges that accept the credit or debit card for the purchase of Bitcoin, but not all can accept credit/debit cards from Nigeria.
There are two reasons to why most exchanges disallow Nigerian cards;
- Exchanges do not accept credit/debit cards due to fraud
- There are very few credit card payment processors
- Local payment processors do not offer services to crypto-based businesses
- Financial institutions in Nigeria are limited within the country.
However, many exchanges have recently started implementing systems to detect fraud, and there has been an emergence of more payment processors (like; FlutterWave, Paystack etc.) that are more crypto-based businesses friendly.
Therefore, exchanges are more open to credit or debit card purchases in recent days.
As a general rule of thumb, any exchange that accepts a credit card will also accept a debit card.
Want to know the exchanges that accept credit/debit cards from Nigeria and other countries?
I will be discussing about the best platforms to buy Bitcoins below.
CoinSwitch exchange aggregator
CoinSwitch is a cryptocurrency exchange aggregator that was established enable its users to have access to over 300 cryptocurrencies, and up-to 45,000 crypto pairs.
It integrates a good number of world-leading exchanges (including Changelly) which allows for very fast cryptocurrency arbitrage trades.
This helps most people to make profits by simply buying and selling on different exchanges (crypto price arbitraging).
Like other platforms such as; Changelly and ShapeShift, CoinSwitch can easily convert any cryptocurrency into another one.
What differentiates it from other exchange platforms is that you get to find all the cryptocurrency price from different other platforms in one place at a time.
CoinSwitch can save your time by simply comparing cryptocurrency price value rate of pairs across most popular exchanges automatically.
It’s intuitive and user-friend view makes it easier for even beginners in the cryptocurrency world to use its services effectively.
Registration of account on the CoinSwitch exchange platform is not hard at all.
You are required to enter your email address and your cryptocurrency secure wallet address.
Once you have provided the two requirements, your account will be activated already for currency conversion and exchanging.
Basically, the intention of the team behind the platform is to make CoinSwitch anonymous exchange platform.
Binance crypto platform
Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that was launched in 2017 after their Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
Though still very young in the crypto space, it has come to be known as ‘The world’s leading crypto trading platform’ in the market.
This can be attributed to its large trade volume (i.e. about 1,400,000+ transactions per second, and average daily volume of 1.2 billion transactions).
Despite it being a global exchange, there are restrictions for users from up to 13 states of the USA (United States of America).
It supports more than 100 crypto-coins and its payment methods include:
- Credit/Debit Cards
- Cryptocurrencies
- Bank Wire-Transfer
Bitcoin can be bought directly when using Debit cards – unlike with bank transfer payment option, where you have to buy Stablecoins before buying BTC.
The company’s fees are the lowest, as it charges a fee of 0.1% and 0.05%, when using its BNB token for transaction while on the platform.
Changelly exchange
Changelly is yet another cryptocurrency exchange that accepts payment with credit/debit cards.
Founded in 2015, (with Eric Benz as CEO) acts as an intermediary between cryptocurrency exchanges and their users.
This platform has partnership with MyEtherWallet, Exodus, Huobi Wallet, Binance, BRD, Edge, Coinomi, Trezor, Ledger, Enjin, and other well-known players in the industry.
It supports and offers access to 100+ cryptocurrencies.
The processes for making purchases are the same as CoinSwitch, because they do not have a fixed currency rate owing to the volatile nature.
However, Changelly offers the best available rate at the moment of a transaction and charges a commission fee of 0.25% for crypto-to-crypto swaps.
Note: fiat transactions in Changelly are processed by its partners and has some limitations as to how much that can be transacted.
For example, Simplex limitations (for purchasing BTC, LTC, BCH, XRP, ETH):
- First transaction: from $50 to $10,000
- Daily limit: up to $20,000
- Monthly limit: up to $50,000
Indacoin limitations (except for Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Ethereum):
- First purchase Limit: 3,000 USD/3,000 EUR (per payment)
- Daily limit: up to 10,000 USD
- Weekly limit: over 15,000 USD
- Monthly limit: 30,000 USD.
Very interesting, right?
Keep reading though.
Quidax exchange
Quidax is one of the exchanges that allow its users to buy Bitcoin using debit/credit cards.
The company was launched in 2018 after months of Alpha testing.
Using this exchange platform, you can deposit some money using your credit or debit ATM cards, so you can eventually buy your desired amount of Bitcoin with it.
Personally, I mostly use this particular crypto exchange to buy my cryptocurrencies online aside CoinSwitch, because they offer the simplest payment methods using flutterwave payment processor.
The deposit options are:
- Bank transfer
- Card payment
- Pay with USSD
- Pay with barter
Using credit or debit card to order Bitcoin, the minimum amount to be deposited is N200.00 Nigerian Naira, while maximum is N10,000,000 Naira.
The daily deposit limit is maximum of N500,000 Nigerian Naira until you submit your KYC (Know Your Customer) documents.
Note: There is a charge of 1.4% for every deposit you make on Quidax platform.
You will also need your BVN (Bank Verification Number) to upgrade your account limits, so you can buy more than N500,000 Nigerian Naira worth of BTC.
Luno Bitcoin exchange
This platform re-branded from Bitx to Luno in 2017.
It is yet another cryptocurrency exchange that supports buying Bitcoin with bank credit or debit ATM card.
Aside from being an exchanger, Luno also provides online cryptocurrency wallet for temporal storage of your assets when you buy from them. Luno now supports both Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum wallet.
The company supports 44 countries namely Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia, and 41 others. Its highest market volume is in South Africa followed by Nigeria.
To buy Bitcoin from Luno crypto exchange, you will have to pay a 2% charge or more when buying and selling instantly and a 0.25% – 1% charge when using the exchange.
In the Nigerian version, Luno uses PayU and Paystack as its payment processors.
Popular Local Bitcoin exchange in Nigeria
There are several Bitcoin exchanges based in Nigeria, making it easy to buy and sell BTC coin.
However, only a few of these exchanges are reputable.
In particular, NairaEX turned out to be the biggest Bitcoin broker, and is your best bet when it comes to buying Bitcoins in Nigeria.
NairaEX, launched in 2015, and was the largest Bitcoin exchange in Nigeria as at then, with claims to have over 100,000 users.
You can read further on my detailed NairEx exchange review.
Bitcoins can be purchased there with cash via bank deposit as well as by bank transfer and Perfect Money.
ID verification is required but the process is simple.
Frequently Asked Questions
Over to you
CoinSwitch appears to be the most reliable platform to buy different cryptocurrencies in the country, being a recognized exchange platform.
Changelly is also a good alternative to buy BTC with debit card if the user is interested in privacy.
As different companies located in Nigeria with national, regional and international projections wants to be part of the fintech 4th technological revolution that is now taking place around the world.
At the moment, Nigerians are embracing virtual currencies (like; Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple etc.), and this will be seen in the near future.
