Bitnob Review: Bitcoin Exchange in Africa

5.00 out of 5
(2 bitcoiner reviews)

Bitnob is a bitcoin-only app for users in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya to send and receive bitcoin, save BTC and USD and take out bitcoin-collateralized loans.

Description

Bitnob is an African Bitcoin app that enables you to purchase, trade, borrow, receive and pay using bitcoin. It also facilitates USD and bitcoin savings. You can also use the Bitnob virtual dollar card (MasterCard) to make online purchases. To enable fast, cheaper and borderless payments, Bitnob uses the Lightning Network.

You can also fund and withdraw from your bitcoin wallets using mobile money merchants like M-Pesa in Kenya and MoMo in Ghana. Furthermore, merchants, content creators, and small business owners can accept bitcoin payments using Bitnob. Currently, Bitnob is available in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya (launched in September 2022).

Bitnob Features

  • Savings. You may easily save money in USD and Bitcoin for you or your children using Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) method.
  • Nob Credit. Take out a Bitcoin-collateralized loan without documents for up to a year. You need to have a minimum of $100 in bitcoin wallet to access a loan up to 50% of your bitcoin wallet value.
  • Lightning address. Instantly receive money or get paid via the Lightning Network without sending invoices and almost zero fees.
  • Virtual dollar card. Use your Bitnob virtual dollar card to make any dollar transactions.
  • Money transfer. Your family or company in the US can send money directly into your Bitnob account in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria, thanks to the interoperability of Bitnob with CashApp, CoinCorner, and Strike. When a sender uses the Strike app to send money, it gets converted into bitcoin, sent via the Lightning Network to Bitnob, and then Bitnob facilitates the payout. The payout can be directed either to your USD stablecoin balance in the Bitnob app or directly to your designated bank or mobile money account.
  • Payment gateway. Bitnob for business is specifically designed to enable merchants, content producers, and retailers to begin accepting bitcoin payments in minutes.

DCA, also known as Dollar-cost averaging, is an investment strategy supported by Bitnob that proposes periodic and timely acquisition of a given amount of Bitcoin. A simple example is buying $10 worth of BTC weekly, irrespective of the current market price. This strategy prevents you from investing all your money in one lump sum – commonly referred to as Lump Sum investing and, over time, helps you average out the price of Bitcoin to benefit you as a long-term investor.

Bitnob Supported Currencies

Bitnob’s supported currencies vary depending on the type of transaction you’re looking to do. For buying and selling Bitcoin, the supported currencies include Bitcoin (BTC), USD, and USDC. If you’re using the Send feature in the app for sending and receiving money, the supported currencies are Naira (NGN) (supported in Nigeria), Cedi (GHS) (supported in Ghana), Kenyan Shilling (KES) (supported in Kenya), CFA Franc (XOF) (supported in Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal), Rwandan Franc (RWF) (supported in Rwanda), and United States Dollar (USD) (available for all countries where Bitnob operates).

Send Globally is a partnership between Bitnob and CoinCorner that will allow millions of people with British pound (GBP) or Euro (EUR) to transfer funds freely and instantly to Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana via the Bitcoin Lightning Network, starting with GBP or EUR and ending with Nigerian naira (NGN), Kenyan shilling (KES) or Ghanaian cedi (GHS) in a local bank account or mobile money wallet. When a CoinCorner customer uses Send Globally, their pounds will be automatically converted into Bitcoin (BTC) and sent via the Lightning Network. Once the BTC is received at Bitnob, it will be instantly converted into the local currency — NGN, KES or GHS — and the recipient will receive the funds straight into their bank account or mobile money wallet.

Bitnob Mpesa: Kenyans can easily receive money from the US, fund, and withdraw from their wallets using popular mobile money providers like M-Pesa, T-Kash, and Airtel.

Bitnob Fees

You won’t pay a fee to sell your Bitcoin on Bitnob, but keep in mind that they apply a 1.1% spread, meaning you’ll receive a slightly lower price than their current buy rate. Processing Bitcoin transactions through Bitnob for Business incurs a standard fee of 1%. The service requires no minimum usage level, monthly or annual fees, or contractual commitment.

The following are some of the fees you should expect for using Bitnob:

Transaction TypeFee Structure
Sell BitcoinNo fee, but there’s a spread of 1.1% applied from their buy price.
Buy Bitcoin and other cryptosMarket spreads apply, meaning the price you pay could be slightly higher than the listed market price.
Sending and receiving money through Send
Transfer feesTiered structure based on the transaction amount:
$1 – $20$0.20
$21 – $50$0.50
$51 – $99$1
$100 and above1% capped at $5
Virtual Visa Card
Issuance fee$1 one-time fee
Top-up fees
Less than $100$1
$100 and above1% of the top-up amount
Transaction fees
Cross-border transactions2.5% + $0.5 per transaction
Non-USD transactions2.5% + $0.5 per transaction

Bitnob Wallets

Bitnob has two types of custodial wallets.

  • BTC Wallet. Your bitcoins are stored in the Bitnob wallet, which you may also use to send and receive bitcoins to and from other wallets through in-app, Onchain, or the Lightning Network. With this wallet, you may also buy and trade BTC immediately.
  • USD Wallet. The main wallet on Bitnob, through which you conduct the majority of app transactions, is the USD wallet. The USD wallet funds bitcoin savings plans, you may send USD to other Bitnob users in-app, and the USD wallet is debited/credited instantly when you purchase and sell bitcoin. You can withdraw funds from the USD wallet to your local currency account.

Bitnob KYC

Bitnob is a KYC exchange, therefore it requires you to fulfill Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. There are two KYC levels.

If you want to buy or sell bitcoin without identification, you can explore these non KYC exchanges.

  • KYC Level 1. If you sign up with your phone number and email verification, you will automatically be on level 1. You are limited to a lifetime total of $50 in transactions on level 1.
  • KYC Level 2. To upgrade to the level 2 you need to provide the following: your personal information, your residential details, live capturing of your ID and a selfie capturing of your face. Level 2 allows you to process up to $10,000 worth of transactions every day.

Is Bitnob Safe and Legit?

Bitnob was founded in 2019. The company is governed by the laws of the British Virgin Islands, and it has offices in Nigeria Ghana and Kenya. The exchange has a number of security features in place to protect user funds, including two-factor authentication, cold storage, and encryption.

Bitnob Reviews

At the time of writing, Bitnob’s reputation is mixed, with varying feedback from users on different platforms. On Google Playstore, it has a 3.3-star rating from over 1,000 reviews, while on the App Store, it has a 4.4-star rating from over 170 reviews, indicating differing user experiences.

Google Playstore reviews tend to be more negative, highlighting issues such as slow customer service, high fees, and technical glitches. On the other hand, App Store reviews lean towards the positive side, with users appreciating the platform’s user-friendly interface and competitive fees.

It’s important to keep in mind that these reviews represent only a fraction of Bitnob’s user base, and opinions may vary. Additionally, as a relatively new platform, the reviews may evolve over time.

More Information

Bitcoin trading and investing is highly risky and speculative. This is the reason you are advised not invest what you cannot afford to lose. Trading bitcoin requires extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of the market. We do not recommend you to engage yourself in bitcoin trading. Many people around the world have lost their hard-earned cash from bitcoin trading and investing.

Additional information

Bitcoin Only

,

Bitcoin Loans

Bitcoin Investment Plan

KYC

Lightning Network

2FA

USD Virtual MasterCard

Yes

Year Launched

2020

Headquarters

Lagos

2 reviews for Bitnob Review: Bitcoin Exchange in Africa

  1. 5 out of 5

    Matthew Amaechi

    I have been enjoying their services for some time now as I use this platform to convert my Bitcoin Lightning sats to Naira and transfer the funds to my account. It is very convenient to use and I fully recommend it.

    The funding process is swift due to the speed of the Bitcoin Lightning network, but receiving the amount in Naira in my local bank account requires verification. It typically takes around 10-15 minutes for the money to arrive in my account, depending on the bank I’m using. Overall, I highly recommend Bitnob for anyone looking to convert their sats to local currency.

  2. 5 out of 5

    Gloria Anozie

    I’ve been using Bitnob for a while now to withdraw my Bitcoin to cash via Momo and get the funds in my account. When I stack up a significant amount of sats, I transfer them to Bitnob and use their virtual Mastercard to make online purchases. The experience of using their platform has been fantastic, and I highly recommend it to anyone in Ghana.

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