Bitcoin exchange BitX launches digital currency services in Nigeria

Bitcoin exchange company BitX announced today its rollout to Nigeria. Previously only South Africa, Indonesia, Kenya, and Malaysia were able to purchase the digital cash in their own currency from BitX.

“We are very excited to launch a broad suite of Bitcoin products and services to the Nigerian market, all with the view of making it easier for Nigerian consumers and businesses to buy, sell, store and transact in Bitcoin,” said BitX CEO Marcus Swanepoel.

Last year, the startup secured a round of seed funding of over US$800 000 from a group of international investors to help bolster its international vision of driving Bitcoin adoption in emerging markets.

Nigerians will be able to take advantage of BitX’s full range of services and products the company told Ventureburn.

Some of these services include the BitX Wallet on iOS and Android, BitX API, as well as the BitX Exchange, which will allow them to trade different currencies through the online platform.

The company will be applying their security and compliance systems to Nigeria, as they do with other markets. These systems will help detect money laundering and fraud through BitX.

Read more: Exchange startup BitX now lets you purchase airtime with Bitcoin

According to Swanepoel, “Nigeria is a fast-growing and highly entrepreneurial economy.” BitX has been inundated with requests to supply its services to Nigeria.

The country is perhaps lagging in Bitcoin adoption, but BitX hopes to amend this by implementing the same standard structures it uses for other emerging markets.

Similarly, South African exchange competitor IceCubed announced earlier this year that Nigerians using the payment processing service, VoguePay, will be able to make transactions using the cryptocurrency.