Bitcoin Exchange NairaEx Open for Business in Nigeria
Bitcoin exchange NairaEx has launched its bitcoin exchange services in Nigeria, following the expansion of South African bitcoin exchange ICE3X to Nigeria in January, 2015.
Through local banking partnerships and strategic agreements with well-established financial institutions, NairaEx aims to provide a simplified bitcoin trading platform for new bitcoin users with easy verification and registration systems.
Unlike other cryptocurrency exchanges in its bordering countries, NairaEx also plans to target the Nigeria’s remittance market which, according to the startup, is the world’s largest remittance market today.
In an attempt to address and support the country’s severely underbanked and underserved population, NairaEx has developed a payment request tool allowing users to accept bitcoin payments through their NairaEx bitcoin accounts directly.
Currently, the bitcoin exchange offers a unique pricing system, with an FX and trading fees-inclusive bitcoin price. Similar to popular remittance and bitcoin exchanges like Philippines-based Coins.ph, NairaEx offers convenient payment options besides bank transfers, including remittance deposits to enable bitcoin purchases.
Today, NairaEx is the sole exchange in the entire country to operate independently from a payment processor mobile solution for cash payments. By doing so, the exchange was able to cut a significant portion of deposit and withdrawal fees, allowing users to cash out bitcoin via bank accounts free of charge.
The exchange has already begun to gain traction from its local users, due to its incredibly cheap transaction and conversion fees.
“NairaEx is undoubtedly cheaper than other exchanger because their orders are based on current market price displayed on their homepage,” said NairaEx user Ayo Owonikoko.
Nine months ago, prominent South African bitcoin exchange ICE3X expanded its services to Nigeria, with an exclusive partnership with VoguePay, allowing users to purchase and sell bitcoin through VoguePay wallets.
However, as explained by the NairaEx team, its partnership with a cash-based financial platform increased ICE3X’s deposit and transaction fees on average, thus failing to appeal to the financially underserved population of Nigeria.
The ICE3X team does recognize the massive market of Nigeria, especially its highly potent remittance market. With emerging competitors, ICE3X and NairaEx aim to offer efficient bitcoin services to solve credit card fraud and flaws in the Nigerian banking systems.
