Choosing the best cryptocurrency wallet in Nigeria is far from straightforward, given how many wallets are out there and all of the different features each of them offers. And over the past 8+ years of investing in crypto, I've learned that crypto wallets are actually less secure and more expensive than simply keeping your crypto on a reputable, trustworthy exchange.
All of the exchanges I recommend below have at least a 95% cold storage policy, are regulated by top authorities, and undergo external audits at least once per year. With that said, ZenGo is the perennial favourite of knowledgeable Nigerian crypto investors, and in all my time trading with them, I can't recommend them highly enough.
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Sign up by June 7, 2023.I know you came here looking for a better crypto wallet, but what you actually need is a better crypto exchange.
Here's why: if you trade with a good, secure crypto exchange, you don't need a wallet at all. The Nigerian exchanges I recommend below are more secure than a wallet, don't cost hundreds of dollars to buy, and have customer service teams around the clock to help you out if anything goes wrong. Plus, you won't have to pay all the fees that come with moving crypto around every time you want to make a trade.
So let's get into the best exchange in Nigeria that you can use as a substitute to an expensive crypto wallet.
ZenGo – Nigeria's Best Crypto Trading Platform
Good All-Around
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Account Opening: Free |
★★★★ Rated 4.4/5 |
ZenGo is free to use, which means you get the industry's best security for no cost. Sending and receiving crypto to and from ZenGo is also free, and their 24/7 support team answers most queries in 5 minutes or less.
ZenGo’s proprietary keyless technology means that your crypto is protected by two independently created mathematical secret shares: one that lives on your phone, and another that lives in the cloud. This unique setup means that your coins are always 100% secure, and that you’ll never have any trouble accessing them, even if your phone is lost, stolen, or broken, or if ZenGo (the company) were to go bankrupt, commit fraud, or cease operations for any other reason.
ZenGo supports more than 75 crypto assets, and it takes less than 30 seconds to open your free account.
Overall, ZenGo represents the next generation of crypto: with top-level security inside an easy to use app, ZenGo offers the best of both worlds.
Features
- Supports 75+ crypto assets
- 24/7 customer support
- Extremely well-rated mobile app (4.7/5 on the App Store)
- Face scanning technology for even greater security
- Up to 8% APY in crypto savings
- Cancel or speed up your sent transactions with one tap
- Choose from the 3 network fees modes: economy, regular, and fast (applicable for BTC, ETH, and ERC20)
Cost
- Account Opening: Free
Best For
Crypto investors looking for the most secure trading experience + low fees.
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Sign up by June 7, 2023.3 Reasons Crypto Exchanges Are Better Than Crypto Wallets
#1 Crypto Wallets Aren't As Secure As Exchanges
In 2021, The New York Times ran an article on investors who have lost large amounts of crypto in their wallets:
- Gabriel Abed lost 800 Bitcoin after reformatting the laptop containing his wallet's private keys
- Brad Yasar lost 800 Bitcoin after forgetting the password to his wallets
- Stefan Thomas lost 7,000 Bitcoin after forgetting the password to his IronKey wallet
There are hundreds of other stories of people losing their crypto in old, inaccessible wallets, including James Howells, who lost 7,500 Bitcoin when he threw out the hard drive with his wallets on it.
In fact, according to a June 2020 report by the blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, 3.7 million Bitcoins have been lost, about 20% of the total in circulation today. That's an incredibly high number, and most of that amount was lost because it was held in a wallet that the owner can no longer access, either because they lost the wallet itself, the device became corrupted due to misuse or old age, the owner lost their secret keys, or for some other reason. When you use a crypto wallet, there truly is no getting your coins back once they're gone.
Contrast this with a crypto exchange, where even if you lose your account password and can't log in, you can always reset your password or reach out to their customer support team to regain access to your account. This is one big reason why exchanges are safer than wallets, though there are others as well.
#2 Crypto Wallets Are Expensive To Buy And Use
Crypto wallets are expensive in a number of different ways:
- Expensive To Buy: Most crypto wallets cost at least $75 – $100, and they can get much more expensive than that (up to $500+ or more for top-of-the-line wallets). This means that if you invest $10,000 and buy a wallet for $100, you're losing 1% of your total funds for your wallet.
- Expensive To Use: Every time you move cryptocurrency in or out of your wallet, you need to pay transaction fees, and those fees can get very expensive. When gas prices are high, sending even a small amount of Ethereum (e.g. $20) can cost $50 or more, making it completely infeasible to regularly move crypto between a wallet and an exchange when you want to make a transaction. Some wallets also charge you fees of their own, which means you can easily lose an additional 5% just for using a wallet outside of your exchange.
- Expensive To Lose: As you saw in the security section above, losing access to your wallet is the most expensive of all, costing you 100% of your crypto holdings. The best way to avoid this is to hold your crypto on an exchange, not in an external wallet.
#3 Crypto Wallets Don’t Offer Customer Support
Suppose you had the secret keys to your crypto wallet saved in a note in your phone—but then your phone kicks the bucket and you lose that note. Unfortunately for you, the only way to access your funds in a crypto wallet is with those secret keys, so if you can't get them back, all of your crypto will be lost, too. There's no one to reach out to, and no way of getting those coins back.
If the same thing happened and you lost your crypto exchange password, though, it wouldn't be an issue; you could just reset your password, and if that didn't work, reach out to customer support for help.
As much as crypto enthusiasts love the idea of decentralization, we also all value the ability to get help when things go wrong. There's nothing fun about losing your entire crypto portfolio over a silly little mistake.
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Sign up by June 7, 2023.What Is A Crypto Wallet?
A cryptocurrency (or Bitcoin) wallet is a piece of software or hardware that stores your crypto assets. Crypto wallets can be thought of as digital bank accounts: they both store your cryptocurrencies and also send and receive your crypto when you make transactions.
Crypto wallets have two types of keys for storage: public keys and private keys.
Public keys are for receiving crypto: if you want to receive Bitcoin or another digital currency from someone, you can share your public key with them so they can make the transaction.
A private key is for spending crypto: if you want to send your crypto assets to a crypto exchange or spend your crypto assets, you'll need access to your private keys. You should never share your private keys with anyone, since that would allow them to access your funds. Think of your private keys like the password to your online banking. If they fall into the wrong hands, all of your money could quickly disappear.
There are three main types of crypto wallets:
#1 Paper Wallets
A paper wallet is the most basic type of Bitcoin wallet: it's just a piece of paper with your private keys written on it.
There's an obvious downside to paper wallets, of course, which is that you might lose them, kissing your digital assets goodbye. That's why you should always, always keep multiple copies of a paper wallet in places you know are safe. For example, you might place them in several difficult-to-access locations around your house.
#2 Software Wallets
Software wallets can generally be installed on any computer or smartphone with Internet access. They're highly convenient, but because they're online, they're susceptible to being, which is why they're also known as “hot wallets.”
#3 Hardware Wallets
Hardware wallets are generally the most secure way to store large amounts of cryptocurrency since they cannot be hacked or used at all without access to the physical device. In recent years, security-minded crypto exchanges have turned to hardware wallets for storing their coins. For example, each of the exchanges in the table below store at least 95% of their coins offline in cold storage, ensuring their safety.
Are Crypto Wallets Safe?
The safety of crypto wallets will be determined entirely by the type of wallet and how you're using it.
The most secure way to store your coins is in a hardware wallet (also known as cold storage). Because they keep your private keys offline, hardware wallets are extremely safe since no one can access them unless they're right in front of the wallet, and even then, it's a tough thing to do.
Software wallets sacrifice security for convenience since they're online and susceptible to being hacked.
Paper wallets also offer their fair share of safety; nevertheless, the chance of losing your private keys is never zero, and there's no way to get them back if you do.
In Summary
Choosing the best cryptocurrency wallet in Nigeria is far from straightforward, given how many wallets are out there and all of the different features each of them offers. And over the past 8+ years of investing in crypto, I've learned that crypto wallets are actually less secure and more expensive than simply keeping your crypto on a reputable, trustworthy exchange.
All of the exchanges I recommend below have at least a 95% cold storage policy, are regulated by top authorities, and undergo external audits at least once per year. With that said, ZenGo is the perennial favourite of knowledgeable Nigerian crypto investors, and in all my time trading with them, I can't recommend them highly enough.
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Sign up by June 7, 2023.Best Crypto Wallets In Nigeria FAQs
Which Bitcoin wallet is best in Nigeria?
The best Bitcoin wallet in Nigeria is ZenGo, thanks to its bank-level security, ease of use, and excellent customer support. It supports a variety of cryptocurrencies and is a favourite among savvy Nigerian crypto investors.
What is the safest crypto wallet in Nigeria?
The safest crypto wallet in Nigeria is ZenGo, both because of its strong security technology and because of the financial transparency the company is required to provide. ZenGo is on the cutting edge of security technology, which means it’s a safe, secure platform you can trust.
Which crypto wallet has the lowest fees?
The crypto wallet with the lowest fees is ZenGo, and it's also our #1-rated wallet, too.
If you were to use a hardware wallet or software wallet instead, you'd need to pay for the wallet itself ($100 or more) plus all of the transaction fees involved with moving money onto and off of the wallet, which can easily add up to 1% – 5% of your total crypto holdings.
How can I buy cryptocurrency in Nigeria?
You can buy crypto in Nigeria using a cryptocurrency exchange like ZenGo. Each platform has different features and benefits, but that list compares and contrasts some of the top-rated platforms in Nigeria for buying and selling cryptocurrency, all of which are extremely secure.
Which app is the best for buying cryptocurrency in Nigeria?
The best app for buying cryptocurrency in Nigeria is ZenGo. It's rated 4.7/5 in the Google Play Store, has thousands of 5-star reviews, and currently supports dozens of cryptocurrencies.
