Grace Ashiru
SafeSenda is a crypto-to-naira exchange platform started in 2022 by Nkechi Iyke-Ukaegbu and Ikechukwu Ukaegbu. It is now fully up and running in Nigeria.
The startup gives users an alternative to the peer-to-peer (P2P) system, which is the most common way to convert crypto assets to local currency.
By taking this step, SafeSenda is entering a cryptocurrency market fraught with regulatory issues and is under the observation of the authorities.
Backstory
If you have cryptocurrency in Nigeria now, you may find that your bank accounts are frozen, and the money they contain is withheld from you.
In February 2021, Nigeria’s central bank sent a nationwide order to stop people from using cryptocurrencies. The order made it illegal to deal in cryptocurrency, putting millions of Nigerians in jeopardy. Over the last ten years, Nigeria’s use of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin has grown by leaps and bounds, putting the country at the forefront of crypto and Bitcoin use on the continent.
Crypto experts and evangelists were excited about Nigeria’s growing use of cryptocurrency. Still, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) told all banks to “stop doing business with entities that deal in cryptocurrency.”The fact that the number of crypto holders in Nigeria increased from 10 million the previous year to 13 million in 2022 may be the most intriguing aspect of the CBN’s approach.
Instead, they use the P2P model, in which one person sends coins to another, and the person who receives the coins starts a regular bank transfer to the person who sent the coins.
Even though it might seem easy, the P2P model is full of risks. Some users may leave the platform after getting cryptocurrency from someone else. Sometimes bank transfers don’t work well and depend on a third party. Most people think the P2P process is slow and risky, primarily since it depends on other platform users.
These are the problems that SafeSenda is attempting to address by marketing itself as a foolproof method of converting cryptocurrencies to Nigerian naira.
Crypto companies like SafeSenda are not licensed to operate with Nigerian banks. To provide its consumers with a frictionless experience while exchanging cryptocurrency for naira, the SafeSenda team has developed an in-house methodology that sidesteps the regulatory obstacle presented by the CBN.
Ukaegbu, one of the company’s co-founders, said that they were inspired to make SafeSend because it made sense to fix some of the problems with P2P trading in Nigeria.
Because of the unfriendly regulatory climate in Nigeria, the vast majority of transactions in the rapidly expanding crypto trading and exchange sector are carried out through peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms.P2P is typically reserved for those with more experience, as it is time-consuming and can take anywhere from a few minutes to as much as 72 hours to finish.
The startup founders are working on the minimum viable product (MVP) while the company is still in the bootstrapping stage.
