CBN Crypto Ban: Alternative Ways To Trade Crypto In Nigeria

Just days after I wrote this article about Crypto Arbitrage, the Central Bank of Nigeria reared its ugly head and banned cryptocurrency in Nigeria. What this means is that you cannot use your Nigerian bank account, whether in Naira denomination, or domiciled in dollars or other foreign currency, to purchase cryptocurrency. You also cannot withdraw proceeds of cryptocurrency trades into your Nigerian bank account.

If you manage to bypass the banking restrictions and try to fund your crypto wallet or withdraw your crypto proceeds using your bank, your bank account would be closed until further notice. 

What this means is that the CBN has cut off the Nigerian banking system from the cryptocurrency ecosystem that has existed in Nigeria and has been building heavy momentum due to the nonsensical forex policies of the CBN.

Like my friend Anthony will say, WE MOVE!

We cannot continue to wait for the Central Bank of Nigeria and its bureaucracy before looking for ways to better our lives. We cannot stop thinking out of the box, and we cannot stop capitalizing on the opportunities that globalization has given us in this fortunate century.

We just have to keep moving forward. And that is the essence of this post.

Alternative Ways To Trade Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency In Nigeria

P2P Trading

Before the CBN ban on cryptocurrency in Nigeria, a Paxful survey showed that Nigeria was the top 2 country in terms of P2P crypto transaction on its platform. What this shows is that the market was already anticipating the lopsided decision of the CBN.

Going forward now, P2P seems like the default way to trade bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in NIgeria for now. This feature is available in almost all the available crypto platforms in Nigeria such as Binance and Paxful.

So, when next you want to buy bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, simply log on to a crypto platform like Binance, navigate to the P2P section, and make your trade with any of the many sellers on the platform.

If you have crypto or other wallets elsewhere, you can easily send it to your Binance or Paxful wallet for the same crypto and trade them via P2P.

Foreign Accounts

If you don’t like the exchange rates offered by P2P on any of the crypto platforms, you have the option to buy using a foreign account.

You will do this via P2P though, but not in Naira.

Normally, if you earn money in dollars, then you change your earned dollars into Naira, then use it to purchase a cryptocurrency, you’ll lose some value in Forex.

Instead of doing that, use your dollars and buy a stablecoin like USDT or BUSD and then convert it to Bitcoin or other crypto if you want. 

Binance has this feature. Let me give you a run down.

Let’s say you earned some money in dollars or someone sent you some dollars, and that dollars is lying somewhere, maybe in your Paypal or Payoneer wallet. Normally, you can’t buy crypto directly with these wallets from Nigeria.

What you’ll do is go to your Binance wallet settings, change your currency and your payment currency from Naira (NGN) to dollars (USD). Now, go to your P2P section, you’ll begin to see merchants that accept USD to BTC or USD to USDT. The wallets they accept would appear in front of their profile. Simply set up a buy trade, transfer the amount of money worth of crypto you want to buy, once they confirm your transfer, the crypto will be available in your Binance wallet.

Online Wallets

If you do a lot of online business, you can easily move your funds from cash to crypto via online cash wallets.

For example, if you have funds in an online wallet such as Skrill, you could easily convert your funds to crypto. Skrill allows you to create a secure crypto wallet and lets you convert over 40 currencies including USD, Euros, and Pounds, to Crypto.

So, if you have any funds in your Skrill account, you can easily convert it to crypto and then transfer that crypto to your Bitcoin wallet. Once the transfer is confirmed, you can cashout via P2P without losing any currency value to Forex.

Mobile Money Wallets

Just like Online wallets, mobile money wallets in Nigeria can also help you facilitate P2P payments and buy bitcoins and other crypto. If you have a Chipper Cash Wallet or MTM Mobile Money Wallet, then you easily fund those wallet for P2P crypto transactions.

To know which mobile wallet is best for purchasing crypto or Bitcoin, you have to check the P2P platform you are using. Most of the traders there would indicate the mobile money they accept. You only have to get and fund such wallets and enjoy your crypto trading.

Gift Card Transactions

Now, you don’t even need to have cash before you can buy crypto. Many crypto platforms are now adopting the Gift card method of buying crypto. This flexibility gives you options to trade Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies without using your Nigerian account.

To buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies using gift cards, you just have to find a platform that has that option, such as Paxful. You can simply exchange your gift card to cash, or if you want to keep the funds away, you can convert the gift card to Bitcoin and store in your paxful wallet until you are ready to withdraw.

Conclusion

As there are many ways to kill a rat, so are there many ways to manoeuvre around the CBN crypto ban. You can use any of the methods explained above to buy crypto, sell crypto, or convert and safeguard your funds.

I’m sure as time goes, there will be other simpler solutions and alternatives to trading cryptocurrencies from Nigeria. 

The banks have rejected us, but the world has since gone global. There are so many options to ride this crypto wave, and I tell you, we’ll prevail with or without Nigeria’s embargo.

We say no to Cowtocurrency!