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7 Steps in Luno: How to Convert Your USD to Nigerian Naira Using Bitcoin

In recent times cryptocurrencies have been gaining a lot more recognition than in the past, it is almost accurate to say that the speed at which they have been gaining recognition is almost exponential. Bitcoin has the largest market dominance has seen a steady increase from the end of 2019 to date.

Africa happens to be one of the regions in the world that have been responsible for this sudden surge. With Nigeria being at the forefront of this race, Google trend had indicatedan increase in the Google search for Bitcoin for the last few months. Considering the fact that the country has been experiencing some relatively troublesome economic situations, it is not uncorrelated with the efforts its citizens have been making which is a clear pointer that they are now seeing this digital currency as a more stable alternative.

According to the latest World Bank report, in 2019, 9.3% of the value to be transferred is charged as the cost of sending funds to sub-Saharan Africa via regular Remittance services — with Nigeria being the highest user — This is said to be the highest remittance rate anywhere around the world.

Besides the relatively unstable economy, the number of Nigerians in diaspora have been on the increase and seeing that cryptocurrencies are a better alternative to remittance services offered by local financial operators, migrants in need of sending funds to their friends and loved ones are gradually resorting to the use of Bitcoin to escape the exorbitant charges by the banks and other financial operators.

This newly found interest also explains the recent increase in the number of exchange platforms that have been springing up to meet this growing demand for liquidity within this space. Some platforms where Nigerians can receive funds in dollars or Bitcoin and convert to Naira has been seen as a way out of the too many constraints fiat presents, they include Luno, LocalBitcoins, Paxful, Bitpesa, to mention but a few.

In this article, we would be explaining in detail the steps to take in opening an account as well as the process of conversion of USD/BTC to Naira. We would be using Luno which happens to be one of the country’s oldest and trusted exchange platforms.

Luno (formerly known as BitX) offers a 0% fee for users who make liquidity by placing an order while market takers are meant to pay a fee between 0% to 1% for the Nigerian Naira. Bank transfers and credit card deposits can also be made on the platform easily, while bank transfers are free, credit card deposits will incur a fee.

The ease of use, low fees, and high transaction limits are some of the major features that endear it to many Nigerians, thereby giving it a very positive reputation. Besides the BTC/NGN trading pair, Luno also has other Bitcoin trading pairs which include:

BTC/EUR

BTC/ZAR

BTC/MYR

BTC/IDR

Below are the steps to receive and convert your US Dollars or BTC to Nigerian Naira:

Step 1: Visit the Luno website to create an account.

Step 2: Sign up to create an account and sign in using your registered email and password.

Step 3: Select the purpose of opening the account. Note that this is what Luno will use to determine what kind of account a user intends to open.

In this case for “receiving funds into the country”.

Step 4: Now to receive Bitcoin go to the Homepage and click on the BTC option.

Step 5: Click on the receive icon to reveal the wallet address and a bar code to receive BTC.

Step 6: Name your wallet and scan the barcode or copy the wallet address and paste as a message to the sender.

Step 7: Select BTC as the currency you would like to sell and input the amount.

Finally, click on “Next”, now when you get your Naira, link your account to the Luno platform and transfer to your account. It would take a little while for the balance to reflect but after you do that all you have to do is wait for your account to be credited.

Image via Shutterstock

Bitcoin in Africa: Cryptocurrency and P2P Bitcoin Trade Surge Across the African Continent

According to recent data and reports, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption are soaring across Africa.

Cryptocurrency adoption and peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions are on the rise across the African continent. There have been significant advances across Africa for crypto adoption in terms of regulation, trade volume, and reported cryptocurrency ownership.

Currently Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya frequently rank among the top 10 countries for Bitcoin Google searches according to a recent report by Arcane Research and Luno.

The research emphasizes that Africa is, “one of, if not the most promising regions” for cryptocurrency adoption as it exhibits a young and largely underbanked or unbanked population who are often forced to use expensive forms of money remittance.Crypto P2P Trades Surge Across Africa

The report found that South Africa had taken the lead on the continent for having the highest percentage of crypto ownership at 13% followed by Nigeria at 11%. South Africans also rank fifth globally for crypto adopters.

This week saw a surge in P2P trade activity for South Africa, allowing them to edge out Kenya with nearly $2 million in trade across Paxful and Localbitcoins.

South African’s appear to be reacting to the recent news of financial regulators taking virtual assets more seriously. Regulators in SA recently issued a policy document that asserts that crypto-assets and activities relating to them “can no longer remain outside the regulatory perimeter.”

Paxful in Africa: #BuiltWithBitcoin

Ray Youseff, CEO and Founder of the Paxful peer-to-peer marketplace also commented on the Bitcoin boom in Africa and the need for further education to ensure the people take advantage of this avenue to financial inclusion.

As part of its mission to provide equal access to the financial system, Paxful launched the #BuiltWithBitcoin, a social good initiative with the goal of building 100 schools funded entirely by bitcoin all across emerging markets. Youssef said, “There are 2 schools in Rwanda, and currently building the 3rd one in Machakos County, Kenya.” He added, “Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets in Paxful. We had an education drive focused on universities last year beginning with universities in East and Southern Africa, the initiative has reached over 1000 youths. The education workshops provided key, practical insights to the true use cases of Bitcoin, how to avoid falling prey to bad actors in the crypto-space and served to counter the over-emphasis on Bitcoin speculation.”

Beyond the talking points, how does greater financial inclusion benefit the global economy, and what problems remain in Youssef’s view? He explained, “The flow of wealth and money helps to make the economy more liquid and create more jobs. Providing an equal financial system bolsters this process by providing more participants and more opportunities to them. This often means new and creative ecosystems to help people and solve their problems will emerge which will provide people with jobs and a source of income.”

Image via Shutterstock

Unclear Crypto Regulations in South Africa Alarm Entrepreneurs

The uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrency regulations in South Africa is fueling the move by the country’s homegrown crypto firms to more crypto-friendly countries.

As reported by Bloomberg, the clamour by the country’s entrepreneurs, particularly invested in cryptocurrencies is yielding no fruits, a situation that is limiting potential growth.

With crypto trading platforms such as Luno with registered headquarters in the UK a commonplace in the country, it lends credence to the claims that South African authorities “have been incredibly slow in terms of regulation in the industry and that leads to businesses looking internationally,” said Revix Chief Executive Officer Sean Sanders, whose firm is considering relocating its headquarters to the United Kingdom. He added:

“In an unregulated environment, a customer arrives at our platform with scepticism, and rightfully so.”

Entrepreneurs shared with Bloomberg that the lack of clear regulations is also preventing businesses to promote their services via social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter, a situation that has dampened growth.

Additionally, there is a banking divide in dealing with digital currency service providers in the country. While institutions like the Standard Bank Group Ltd. provide unrestricted access to all of its services to crypto firms, entities like First National Bank has no banking relationships with virtual-currency exchanges or traders.

The lack of regulatory framework has also made it difficult for crypto platforms to operate bank accounts, said Luno head Marius Reitz. “In turn, this makes it very difficult for customers to buy Bitcoin with their local fiat currency.”

The regulatory situation in South Africa is as concerning as that in Nigeria, Africa’s largest cryptocurrency marketplace. With governments failing to embrace the next shift in innovations, emerging firms are either developing strategies to circumvent unfavourable regulations set out by the government, such as by leveraging peer-to-peer trading, or making moves to take their businesses elsewhere, where they will be more welcome.

Luno Floats Venture Capital Arm to Invest in Web3.0 & Fintech Startups

Luno, a digital currency platform owned by the Digital Currency Group (DCG), has launched Luno Expeditions, its Venture Capital (VC) outfit.

As reported by TechCrunch, the new VC offshoot will engraft itself as a funding outfit for cryptocurrencies or Web3.0 startups and those in the Fintech space.

Luno Expeditions is expected to fund as many as 250 startups annually, complementing the investment strategies that have long been defined by its grandparent company, DCG. According to Emily Cheng, the named Chief Executive Officer of the new offshoot leading a team of five, the decision to focus on both crypto and fintech firms is hinged on the fact that the entire outlook of the digital currency ecosystem is still being built. Some fintech firms fill in the bridge or gap that crypto startups are yet to fill.

“There is still a lot of work to be done in building the infrastructure that crypto will rely on. So our aim is to be supportive of this broader ecosystem. So what this practically means is we will invest in fintech companies that we feel match that long-term thesis, not just any fintech company,” she said.

As much as $50,000 to $250,000 will be invested in startups while at their seeds or pre-seed stages. It comes in at about $15 million to $75 million annually.

“We are likely to invest at the upper end of that range. Also, we have some flexibility, including writing larger cheques as we scale,” the CEO said. “The reason we didn’t go with a fund structure is that we don’t need any external funding to be able to build this business, both from a capital and management fee perspective. It also allows us to finance investments with evergreen capital, which we believe is more valuable to founders building companies in the fintech space and aligns all of our long-term interests better.”

The emergence of Luno Expeditions trails attempts by established companies, including Paradigm Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), to pump into the fast-growing digital currency ecosystem.

London Music Venue Koko Partners With Luno, Embrace 122 Years of Culture With Blockchain

London’s historic live music venue, Koko, has entered into a partnership with cryptocurrency trading platform Luno.

As reported by IQ, the essence of the partnership is giving this new platform for live music events to promote the values of music through blockchain technology. The partnership is worth multi-million pounds and will see the creation of the Luno in a new multi-format space at the top of the 1,500-cap theatre.

The Luno will be used for many purposes, including hosting digital art exhibitions, DJ Shows, and events that will be essentially focused on decentralized technology and digital currencies.

“Koko is about celebrating 122 years of culture whilst fiercely stepping into the future,” says Seb Croft, Koko’s commercial director. “Our partnership with Luno will allow us to be at the forefront of blockchain technology, supporting artists in new ways and providing game-changing experiences for fans. The opportunities for us to innovate together in the music and entertainment space are endless.”

After an investment of over 70 million pounds, Koko is rebranding as a new global music arena with a new launch date fixed for April 30th. The venue’s officials are optimistic crypto will play a very important role in the future of the music and are proactive enough to offer the support for their affiliated artists’ needs.

“Every day, the relationship between crypto and music grows stronger, with blockchain innovations beginning to revolutionise the industry,” said Sam Kopelman, Luno’s UK country manager. “With Koko, we look forward to working with artists and helping them realise the potential of decentralised technology, giving them greater control over their music and their futures.”

Crypto Platforms and Growing Traditional Industry Partnerships

It is not uncommon to find cryptocurrency-focused firms ink partnerships with traditional companies. These crypto executives are constantly exploring avenues to bolster the integration of these nascent asset classes in various industries.

Crypto.com has a similar partnership with Formula 1 team Aston Martin, and FTX.US has secured a 10-year naming right to the University of California, Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium.

Coindesk May Be Sold as Parent Company DCG Struggles

According to recent reports, the cryptocurrency news website CoinDesk is mulling over the possibility of being sold as its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), wants to improve its financial standing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that CoinDesk has enlisted the assistance of investment bankers from the financial advising firm Lazard. These investment bankers are assisting the company in weighing its alternatives, which may include a whole or partial sale.

You know, I recently became aware that Coindesk is now available for purchase.

Charles Hoskinson, who tweets under the handle @IOHK Charles 19th of January, 2023 In the past few months, it has been reported that DCG has received multiple offers for the media company that are higher than $200 million. If these reports are accurate, this would represent an incredible return on investment for DCG given that the company was reportedly purchased by DCG for only $500,000 in 2016.

It would seem that Barry Silbert’s DCG is experiencing significant financial difficulties as of late. On January 17, the company informed its shareholders that it will be suspending dividend payments in an attempt to improve the soundness of its balance sheet and “preserve liquidity.”

On January 18, Bloomberg reported that another DCG subsidiary, crypto lending business Genesis Global, was intending to file for bankruptcy after it revealed that it owed creditors over $3 billion. This is undoubtedly the primary cause contributing to DCG’s current financial predicament.

According to the company’s website, DCG’s venture capital portfolio includes about 200 crypto-related startups, some of which include CoinDesk and Genesis.

The asset management company Grayscale Investments, the cryptocurrency exchange Luno, and the advising firm Foundry are all other businesses that are owned by DCG.

Some people believe that the article published by CoinDesk in November that revealed the irregularities in Alameda Research’s balance sheet was the first domino that eventually led to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX as well as the liquidity issues that Genesis, its parent company DCG, and the broader cryptocurrency market are currently facing.

New clause in South Africa's advertising code for cryptocurrency

The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) in South Africa has introduced a new provision for the cryptocurrency business. This clause is intended to safeguard consumers against unethical advertising in the cryptocurrency industry.

A new clause was added to Section III of the advertising code for the nation of South Africa, and it stipulates that businesses and people in the country are required to comply by specific advertising standards relating to the offering of cryptocurrency-related goods and services.

‘Expressly and clearly’ stating that investments may result in the loss of cash “since the value is changeable and may go up as well as down” is something that all advertisements, including those for cryptocurrency offers, are required to do according to the first clause of the regulation.

In addition, advertisements indicating prospective investment losses must not contradict any cautions that are given.

It is essential that marketing communications for certain services and goods be presented in a way that is “clearly understood” to the target demographics.

Advertisements are required to provide statements that are fair and impartial on the returns, features, advantages, and dangers involved with the product or service being promoted.

Rates of return, predictions, or forecasts must also be fully supported, including a description of how they are computed and an explanation of what circumstances apply to the returns that are being promoted.

Any information referring to prior performance cannot be used to guarantee future performance or returns, and it should not be presented in a manner that generates “a favourable image of the marketed product or service.” [Case in point:]

It is inappropriate for advertisements placed by bitcoin service providers who are not also registered credit providers to promote the purchase of cryptocurrencies through credit.

Nevertheless, this does not stop service providers from promoting linked payment options that they provide to customers.

Additionally, it is going to be required of social media influencers and brand ambassadors that they will conform with particular advertising guidelines.

This includes the need that truthful information be shared, as well as the ban against giving advise on trading or investing in crypto assets and the prohibition against making claims of advantages or returns.