In a world where money has transitioned from using pebbles to printed cash notes and supporting online transactions, it comes to no surprise that fiat currency is finally ready for its next transition – ‘cryptocurrency’.
“Our view is that all fiat currency will be crypto,” – Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of Circle which is backed by the United States investment bank, Goldman Sachs, and the Chinese internet giant, Baidu.
Nigeria is the perfect example of an emerging economy. In 2016, Nigeria’s GDP took a knock. According to Bloomberg, the drop was a result of a depreciation in oil prices and a shortened oil extraction due to illegal attacks on oil facility infrastructures. In turn, a surge in the Naira (NGN) exchange rate transpired, while inflation respectively claimed presence to its highest.
The Nigerian market has since shown positive signs of continuous expansion over the past 2-years; be it the transportation, communications, government service, financial, infrastructure, entertainment, manufacturing or technology sector. But, more particularly when it comes to financial and technological disruptions.
Making cryptocurrency work for the growth of the Nigerian economy
With the world entering the third industrial revolution, digital currencies have been taken by the likes of many emerging markets that see the true value cryptocurrency and blockchain technology can bring. Many crypto and blockchain evangelists are even calling it ‘the currency of the future’.
Due to the instability of fiat currencies, many people who are part of Nigeria’s crypto ecosystem rely on the decentralised system of cryptocurrency to earn an extra bit of NGN through cryptocurrency trading, converting and mining.
But, there is a lack of banking integration and credit card penetration in the West African market. In turn, options to buy or sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash and Bitcoin Cash using local payment methods are limited; with P2P markets only supporting BTC, wallets charging high conversion fees and cryptocurrency exchanges holding exorbitant transaction fees on crypto trading pairs. Not to mention, remittance has also become an unreliable source of sending and receiving money due to high cross-border charges in making international fiat currency transfers.
So, how are cryptocurrency users in emerging markets, like Nigeria, expected to make money off digital currency when faced with the unresolved matters of scaling?
Top ways to make money with cryptocurrency in Nigeria
The value of cryptocurrencies is extremely volatile. Determining whether a coin is simply experiencing a ‘pump and dump’ scheme or not can also be above one’s head. However, whether soaring or plummeting, there are different ways to make money with cryptocurrency in today’s Nigerian market:
1. Earning free cryptocurrency and converting it to NGN
Many cryptocurrency exchanges and peer-to-peer marketplaces have created a free source of earning cryptocurrency; otherwise known as an ‘Affiliate Program’. By joining an affiliate program with a cryptocurrency exchange and promoting its listed products, you can make a quick buck in commission.
Generally, after signing up, affiliates will receive a link with a unique tracking ID attached to it. The crypto exchange will use the tracking ID to identify when someone uses their platform through the affiliate’s unique link. In return, the affiliate will receive a percentage commission. If the commission is in cryptocurrency, the affiliate can still make money by converting it to Naira.
However, all affiliate programs are different; with each cryptocurrency platform holding exclusive terms and conditions to their affiliate programs.
For example, the Coindirect Affiliate Program – supported in Nigeria – enables users to earn 20% commission in crypto. Their cryptocurrency wallet supports Bitcoin and over 40 altcoins, including ERC-20 coins; which increases the possibility of users clicking on the referral link as it caters for the most popular coins in the cryptocurrency market.
Coupled with this, their Nigeria-supported peer-to-peer marketplace has a 0% fees model when buying and selling cryptocurrency directly on their P2P; making it easier for users to make a true profit on their Naira/crypto investments without incurring additional hidden fees.
2. Building your own cryptocurrency business
Building a cryptocurrency-related project can be a tricky process. Generally, you would need to run an ICO which can create hard forks, build a decentralised app (DApp), receive bounties and help a cryptocurrency community. Some wealthy enthusiasts prefer the easy route of becoming an investor in a cryptocurrency company or buying stocks. While others make money from a cryptocurrency company by simply working for one.
But, who does not want to be their own boss in today’s Nigerian market? Becoming a Cryptocurrency Trade Vendor is the most convenient way to do so.
Though, not many peer-to-peer marketplaces support both Ethereum and Bitcoin – more so in Africa’s untapped market, Nigeria. The Coindirect Vendor portal services allow users in Nigeria to start their own cryptocurrency business selling BTC and ETH on Coindirect’s peer-to-peer marketplace. Here, users receive full control over creating buy and sell offers to maximise earnings, managing incoming orders and exporting order details for tax returns.
3. Cryptocurrency exchanges for digital currency trading
Cryptocurrency adoption is soaring in Nigeria and the best way to make money in cryptocurrency is by trading digital currencies.
For traders already familiar to Forex, it will be little to no adjustment migrating to cryptocurrency trading. Traditionally, trading requires a broker to execute your trade; a broker that adds commission fees for the execution. The best part about cryptocurrency is that it is decentralised. Thus, requiring no middleman to handle your trade whether you’re a newbie or seasoned trader. In addition to this, you have unlimited access to making money as you can buy and sell cryptocurrency without hitting a day trader limit.
When it comes to trading pairs such as BTC/USDT, you’re essentially saying that you want to buy Bitcoin (BTC) with Tether (USDT) or sell Bitcoin (BTC) in return for Tether (USDT). Coindirect’s fresh solution to scaling remittance in Nigeria backs altcoins like USDT which is tied to the US Dollar and can be used as remittance to avoid paying the exorbitant cross-border charges brought by fiat transfers.
Of course, the more trading pairs a cryptocurrency exchange has, the more money you can make with cryptocurrency in Nigeria. The Coindirect Exchange supports 15 different ETH, USDT, XRP, LTC, DASH, BCH and BTC trading pairs – the biggest selection of trading pairs that you’ll find in Africa.
Whilst players like Remitano, Paxful and NGexchanger offer some functionality utilized by Coindirect, what differentiates Coindirect from its competitors is that all under one single website it features an end-to-end integrated offering.
Coindirect brings amazing value to people seeking to make money with cryptocurrency in Nigeria’s emerging market. Create a free account with Coindirect.com and access its integrated exchange with 50% off trading fees until the end of October 2018 (0.1% on crypto-to-crypto trades and 0.4% on fiat-to-crypto trades).
If you are looking for other ways to make money online, then read our guide: How to Make Money Online
