Singaporean Bitcoin Exchange, BitX, announced the launch of its Bitcoin wallet, exchange and merchant services in Nigeria.
On Tuesday, Singapore-based Bitcoin exchange BitX announced the expansion of its operations to Nigeria allowing Nigerians to deal with the digital currency.
BitX permits its customers from South Africa, Indonesia, Kenya, and Malaysia to purchase the digital cash in their own currency, and now the company is launching “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,” says Marcus Swanepoel, BitX CEO.
According to the company’s blog post, customers will be able to use the BitX Android or iOS apps and trade naira/bitcoin on the BitX Exchange. Moreover, Nigerians now can use the powerful BitX API to build their own Bitcoin products and services. Plus, BitX’s blog hints to be working towards the launch of some new services in the African territory.
“We’ve been inundated with requests for bitcoin products and services from consumers, developers and Nigerian businesses. The business aspect is particularly interesting and we’re currently working with a number of these businesses to bring some exciting new products to the market.”
It’s worth mentioning that in 2014, the startup secured a round of seed funding of over US$800 000. International investors supported the company’s international vision of driving Bitcoin adoption in emerging markets, reads VentureBurn.
BitX states that the company will extend its compliance to virtual currency regulations and security procedures against money laundering and fraud into the Nigerian market: “As with all our operational countries, we’re very focused on security and compliance. We have the same, stringent KYC (know your customer), AML (anti-money laundering) and fraud detection mechanisms in place.”
“Nigeria has a vibrant, diverse and growing online population and in a market scattered with inefficient and expensive online payment methods,” the company has stated. “We’re excited about Bitcoin’s potential for faster and cheaper settlements.”
However, the country is still behind with Bitcoin adoption, but BitX hopes to change the situation using the same standard structures it implements for other emerging markets. Obviously, the company appears to realize that Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa with young population(most Nigerians are from 18-35) and all chances to develop fast.
Eugenia graduated from Minsk State Linguistic University with a degree in Intercultural Communication, Translation/Interpretation (Italian, English). Currently she works as a business analyst, freelance interpreter and tutor. She’s fond of numismatics, photos, good books and sports, adores travelling and cooking.
