Topic: Physical Bitcoin Shop in Port Harcourt (Nigeria) (Read 431 times)

What do you expect from a forum with over 3 million users, there is no way you expect that everyone would come across this thread at the time when its still fresh and new, most users are not that active, and when ever they come online and come across this topic, its easy to think its a new thread since the thread have not accumulated a lot of pages.

But I still reason with you though, users try to look at the date of thread creation before they post comments, it will really help them to know what exactly their comment or reply should be focused on,
I wouldn't be surprised of by December this year, some users are still wishing op a happy birthday on this thread, this is if the thread is still active by then though.

Really?  

In a couple of months, Op will celebrate this year's birthday and yet he's still receiving birthday wishes for last year's birthday. Lmao

It's like you guys didn't check the creation date of the thread I guess that's the reason.

Congratulations in advance bro, you just got yourself an awesome birthday gift. Believe me, the upcoming birthday will be the best you'll ever have as Bitcoin would have grown by the time of the celebration. This is undoubtedly a smart you've taken. And it's good to see Nigeria upgrading their game.

Happy Birthday and congrats on getting yourself a great investment. I was just wondering despite knowing the government regulations they still open the shop in the public space, like you said hold for the long term and don't panic sell.

    Well, that's a nice moved decision, congratulations and Happy birthday too. That amount of money that you bought with bitcoin has a very high chance that its value will be high when the value of bitcoin increases by 100k$ or more during the bull run.

I hope that before the bull run, I will be able to buy or save that amount of bitcoin, that's a big deal after the bitcoin halving.

Nigeria has always been the spearhead of progress for the entirety of Africa. I sometimes call it the guinea pig of the African Continent (in a good way) because they are always the ones to take the risks before the rest of the continent, which is why comparatively, they are better in a lot of ways than neighboring countries. This bitcoin shop is no different from the past progressive things the country has made.

Though the dream of global adoption is still a little far from over the horizon, it's nice to see small-scale businesses like these doing their part in ensuring it does happen in the future. I look forward to hearing more updates from this bitcoin shop, if they have a social media page or something of the likes please link it up!

Also, happy belated birthday OP! Hope your birthday's spent fantastically!

happy belated Birthday to you...
being a Nigerian myself i fell its a nice suprise that such a shop should exist; i would have loved to see same for myself.
the only thing i will like to point out is that  your expectations from your birthday present in one year might be too optimistic. give it time i say!

I can see the way people are investing in cryptocurrency is very interesting and soon the world all together will join the race of buying and holding cryptocurrencies especially for Bitcoin that had been the major controller of the crypto market.
Let the adoption of Bitcoin continues so that the price will continue to increase.

Happy birthday man. This sure is a gift for you from yourself.
And about the holding. I am sure that trust wallet is not as secure as hardware personal wallets. Also keeping your assets in exchange is a bad idea. Not your key, not your coin. So go grab a personal hardware wallet if you are planning to hold it for a long term. And by the time your next birthday comes, you will get even bigger gift for sure if the market turns towards the bull run. Good luck mate. And happy birthday again.

Physical Store for buying Bitcoin is really interesting development. Nigeria have got more and more cryptocurrency acceptance amidst the governments stand to use its own CBDC. Its been more than two months passed and he had enjoyed an unforgettable birthday. After the story someone might've tried the store. Similar stores around the world is much needed for the better spreading about the Bitcoin network.

This is a P2P shop, outlet like this are every where in my area, most especially POS operators, majority of them offer buying and selling of bitcoin and some other top crypto coins like Ethereum and Tron.
To me, this physical outlets don't really have many customers because most bitcoin P2P transaction are carried online through online P2P platforms like Binance and Remitano P2P.

Happy bilated Birthday 🎂 mate.

No matter how small your bitcoin holding is, the most secure wallet to hold your bitcoin is hardware wallet, though some of this gadgets are a bit pricey for some people, most especially, some newbies who's financial ability is below average...
For those in this category, I would advice they download bitcoin wallets like electrum or mycelium, trust wallet is not recommended because it is not an open source wallet.

Mate, you are right, making and doing something good for yourself is not only valued in material things, and buying other digital assets such as bitcoin is a plus to one future financial well-being.

Ops have taken the right decision to get a Bitcoin birthday gift for himself,  and that is really encouraging.

I have bought Bitcoin,, in the same manner, some time ago and I also shared my story here in the forum, it's so exciting to own a stash of bitcoin on special occasions.

That is the best thing you have done so far because holding a bitcoin worth $1k is not a peanut compared to our local currency, that is a very huge amount which might be very difficult for someone to release and buy bitcoin.
Well I will assure you that by your next birthday you will be amazed with the decision you took to hold bitcoin. Then lastly I will advise you please take off your precious bitcoin from that exchange, although I believe that is a very popular exchange for Nigerians but centralized exchange can not be trusted with 100 percent. Always know these phrase that says " Not your key Not your coin" before you would lost your funds over there.

Always act smart and play safe with your funds

wow, very unique in your country there is a bitcoin shop, this is really good. I think it's very good for your own birthday present, I hope you get a big profit from your investment in bitcoin. I'm sure that with a bitcoin shop like what you're talking about, bitcoin will definitely become more popular among the public. because usually buying and selling bitcoin there are no transactions like in stores. so with a bitcoin shop, people who don't know about bitcoin will definitely know.

What kind of backup link do you need ?
The shop website, direction to the shop, or the Transaction hash.
The details of the shop is already visible on the page, I can as well drop the complimentary card of the shop so that you can go verify the story yourself. for security reasons I can't drop my wallet here.

Thats a good birthday gift. Such stores are much in need, maybe this will help with the laymen to invest into cryptocurrencies. Common people aren't much aware of cryptocurrencies and the people who have come across the same have the fear and doesn't know how to invest. These kind of stores can do this for the common people which will boost the usage of cryptocurrencies.

Congratulation to your brother because I know that is not easy but with what you have done and the aspect that you are bringing into you to correct the words I believe is a welcome development so they are for bitcoin for birthday is very good and it is very difficult or before you can see as someone who is being gifted with a gift bitcoin for his birthday if it happened to me I will embrace such

Happy birthday to you.
I'm sure, you had an outstanding experience using a physical bitcoin shop in your country, especially on your birthday because this can be a good birthday gift.
After searching in internet I understood that Port Harcourt is a lard city in Nigeria, regarding their governments I know there are many bitcoin users in Nigeria and that's not shocking at all to see even more physical bitcoin shop there because there is good demand for it from the people side.

Congratulations on your birthday, and best wishes for a long life and prosperity. That is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. I wish you would have enjoyed the investment so that you could add more Bitcoin to your wallet on that same day because Bitcoin investment is the best one you can have for yourself right now as the market is down. I hope you see the 2023 you plan selling off your Bitcoin.
Happy birthday once more, and congrats on your Bitcoin investment.

Happy belated birthday to you mate, you have got yourself the best birthday gift of the year. You should get an electrum wallet to save your bitcoin, binance is not safe since it is an exchange,we say what happened recently. Transfer all your bitcoin to your electrum wallet and if you intend buying more bitcoin,then get a hardware wallet.

I see that the shop you bought your bitcoin is at the road and bitcoin is not yet legalize in Nigeria, did you ask them how are they coping with the government on disregarding this law. Maybe the business is owned by one of the people in the government,since some persons are above the law in Nigeria. If you can hold for long,you will be smiling after some years

At first i congratulate you from the beginning and how you embrace bitcoin as birthday gift, sometimes not only material things that is supposed to be gifted, but what i want to say is that, this story looks like mere story because no backup link that directly shows evidence of what you are narrating.

Happy birthday to you! May your Bitcoin bags be ever full and worth more everyday!

As to the physical Bitcoin shop in Nigeria, I am really loving it! We seem to be seeing a lot of shops pop up, in wealthy places but also in poorer places. With shops like this, anybody can invest in Bitcoin without having to worry about going through endless regulatory procedures (like for buying company shares).

But I do hope that nobody will be taken advantage of by being sold BTC at a too high rate... Which would be easy to do if the people buying the Bitcoin do not have regular access to the internet.

It's nice to see someone taking well-intentioned advice and wanting to learn new things. I hope you are right about privacy, although you will learn over time that some things should remain private, no matter how harmless they seem to you.


In any case, it is a good decision, especially considering everything that has happened in recent months - having Bitcoin anywhere "online" is practically the same as not having it. As for the time you plan to keep your BTC, I don't think you should strictly limit yourself to a certain number of years, because in 4 years you could find yourself in the middle of a bear market again.

thank you bro!

My biggest surprise too, maybe they are actually doing it to lure in more customers just because its a new business. At this rate it will attract many bitcoiners. But why worry is how they tend to gain at that rate, do they have a way they get there own bitcoin bought at bank rate (1$=₦450).

Concerning robbery or other theft issues I think they could do with a security force around if it's a romote. Since the government is relaxing it's strict rules against crypto currency I see them not encountering difficulties in the business, hopefully the next government doesn't go back to banning it.

I'm more interested in the outcome of your investment and since you gonna hold it until next year then, hoping you have a wonderful year of your life please keep firm and be patient about the crypto market situation these upcoming months since it's not yet the Halving season, I'm sure there are lots of ups and downs. Be sure to have perseverance and courage to keep your bitcoins till next year or till after the bitcoin halving for there will be great positive news after that because it might be another bull run and another ATH as well.

Size Edited, New thing learnt.
About my privacy its something i should have considered, never the less my age and location without my real name and face its some how nearly impossible to identify me.

The place is beautify and they have external security, for the safe of storing and keeping bitcoin in that shop, i think its not that safe, what i notice was that they make use of a hardware wallet which they brought out from a safe inside which I really don't know how it looks like.
They never ask for any form of document or means of identification everything apart from the transfer i did for them to their account was decentralized, they asked for cash which i laughed and ask how can i carry that huge amount and be working around.
I know the saying not your key, not your coin, which was why I was asking for the perfect wallet to move the funds to. I have successfully moved the bitcoin to my private wallet which is safe and sound for me.


Its kind of hard replying and quoting all questions here, still learning the system bit by bit.
In General i have moved my coin to a private wallet, and its safer for me over their, i have also decided to extend my holding duration to 4years since I don't have anything mapped out for that fund yet.

It's great to see another physical merchant around PH, I believe this will save many people who dislike selling bitcoin online, as well as people who come across WhatsApp vendors who turn out to be scammers. I hope merchants take precautions as well, because while holding and conducting bitcoin business in public may draw a lot of attention, it may also draw the attention of armed robbers or thieves in the neighborhood especially if they don't have security personnel.

What I don't understand is the rate they sold bitcoin for you, most of the physical vendors would sell at high prices considering the risk they are taking and buy at lower prices, currently dollar to Naira is traded around #750/$ but you were able to buy at a cheap rate or are they doing some kind of discount sales especially now that we have December at the corner.

The joy of buying a thing of value made you to start this thread. Therefore, I want to say a big congratulation and happy birthday to you brother. I am thrilled to see that even with the restrictions placed on banks from engaging in bitcoin transactions, many individuals and organizations are coming in to fill the gap. These organizations are even spending money on advertisement and publicity which has led to increase in bitcoin awareness.

The main issues in most areas is that there are no decentralized platforms were P2P trading can be done without third parties. Also the bitcoin community in most areas are not well coordinated or organized so that P2P transactions can be encouraged and promoted. Almost all bitcoin transactions in places like Nigeria is done through exchanges which is not really a good development.    

It's a lovely story, happy birthday! I'm happy you've found a place and got some BTC. I agree with Findingnemo that Electrum wallet sounds like a good choice for storing the funds. So far, they are on a crypto exchange, right? While Binance is highly reputable, no exchange is invincible: they can still go bankrupt at some point, get hacked, suffer from a big inside job leak, require even more identification documents, etc. So, withdrawing from an exchange and moving the funds to a non-custodial wallet is desirable.

it's very lucky where you have a shop like that, it's very rare to have a shop like that. but does the government allow it, because in my country bitcoin is not openly legal, some even prohibit it.
and my advice is to save your bitcoins until the next halving, or the four-year bitcoin cycle, so that the results you get are maximized.
because if you sell bitcoin next year, the chances are that bitcoin will not go up too much.

and happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday mate and good one you did by getting something spectacular for yourself to spice up your new age celebration with your Bitcoin purchase in the city of Port Harcourt Nigeria. A very good contribution I advise you to adhere to is the advice given to you by @NeuriticFish, in order to avoid bad omens that may lead to lost of funds you need to be in control of your funds. I will equally want to know about the shop in Port Harcourt since is closer to my area so that I can do transactions with them if they have a way of doing transactions without having issues with the government since Cryptocurrency is not yet legalized in Nigeria.

@Nwada001, please post images in a suitable size using the following code -> adjust site by changing number.

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In any case, the gift you gave yourself, even if it is not something tangible, can prove to be a valuable investment for the future. What may not be completely logical is that you already have a date by which you plan to hold, and you cannot know what will happen in 1 year - the price may be similar to today, lower or only slightly higher. A much better option if you don't need that money is to extend that period to at least 2 years.

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For the sake of privacy, you may have hidden your face, but you have revealed your location and exact date of birth, which is not very smart considering that you are investing in Bitcoin.

Looks good. I am wondering how they are operating even if the regulation does not allow them to trade like that? And what public place are you mentioning here? Like isn’t this office is widely open for public on the roadside ? Isn’t that is enough as public place to trade!

Secondly, we need crypto p2p but we need it free from all the documentation and stuff. Like in this case they did ask for your personal account info!

Also, can I ask you what was it like inside the crypto bank? Does not look very safe place to store the bitcoins looking at the structure of bank. Just asking out of curiosity.

& Happy birthday.

Happy birthday, mate.

If you are going to hold it for a long time, then I suggest you buy yourself a hardware wallet. Your bitcoins are currently worth $1k, but if you hold until the bull season when bitcoins hit $100k or $200k, those bitcoins are no longer worth $1k but have gone up to 10k$ or more. So it's not a small amount, you should cherish it from now on.

Trust wallet is a non-custodial wallet, closed source, only suitable for holding shitcoins, it is not suitable for holding bitcoins long term. If you can't buy a hardware wallet now, you can use Electrum instead of Trust wallet.

Happy birthday to you. Bitcoin is a nice birthday gift to give oneself… since you already had a account on Binance you could have easily used their p2p service to buy bitcoins from the comfort of your home. I guess your curiosity got the better of you. Although you say it’s cheaper, the disadvantage going to buy bitcoins at a shop in person is very risky. You could be mugged on your way out you never know. Also it’s equally risky to hodl your bitcoins in centralized exchanges, Binance may be under investigation soon. Once this starts, there will be a FUD and massive withdrawals, you don’t want your coins there if that eventually happens.

Happy birthday to you.
If you truly want to avoid story that touches them you should probably considered moving that coin from Binance to your wallet. Remember "NOT YOUR KEY NOT YOU COIN"


Since you plan on hodling for a long time then you should consider getting yourself a hard wallet just so as to improve the security of your coin. I must admit $1000 is quite a lot to leave in a centralized exchange.

You can check out this thread for list of hard wallets https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/--5282364 the thread was created 2020 and last edited February 2021 so the prices you see there are not up to date but at least it could give you idea of which them to go for.

That amount of a thousand dollar isn't little mate and I hope you already had all the necessary knowledge you need for holding. Bitcoin is a very volatile and lucrative digital asset and hence one must have to be prepared both physically and mentally and also emotionally to face this crypto journey.
With that been said, I think not everyone knows where port Harcourt is, soni will suggest you also state the country  so people will be able to locate this shop if they're within the locality.
I guess the 712 was their buying rate and 720 the selling rate if I'm not wrong.
Happy birthday mate And I hope  you have a great day and always remember to check your portfolio.

This is interesting to see that you engage an exchange service within your locality been a Nigerian, but you still need to be careful because i heard of the similar events the EFCC and other governments security agencies do track down those who are into crypto despite the government come out plain that it's legal to use and transact with, but if you're found by it security agencies seems to be unlawful but you just need to engage more research concerning this, so you don't land yourself into trouble for physical identification, you could also reason along with how they try to regulate every form of cryptocurrency in place, bitcoin is meant to be anonymously engage with it's p2p in other to byepass offences and regulations, but you've got a good start to encourage you.

Happy Birthday!
I've seen a flaw in what you've done and I'd like to point it out here: you've put your bitcoins to storage into somebody else's wallet. Yes, that somebody else is Binance in your case.
You've missed all the "not your keys, not your coins" messages on this forum??
Yes, if nothing bad happens, Binance will keep granting you access to your money. And if something bad happens... bad luck.

I advise you learn how to keep your coins safe in your own custody (generate a wallet or seed safely offline, or buy a hardware wallet, for example). It not be easy (or it can mean another investment), but if you master that, your money will be indeed yours, not like now.

Happy Birthday!

Well, it's an p2p outlet nothing else and if there is regulation issues with the government and Bank then how they can open such outlet in a public place.

For storing 1000 dollars worth of BTC I think Electrum will be better choice than a hardware wallet and holding for one year may not be a long term investment, I consider its a long term only if you manage to hold it for a cycle which is pretty close to 4 years.

Was having a walk around Port Harcourt Yesterday if I can see something I can get for myself as a birthday present when I came across a Bitcoin shop by the roadside, out of curiosity I walked inside the shop, and ask if they sell  and buy Bitcoin which they said yes..
I ask for rate and they said #712 per 1$ which is lower than what I usually buy online, I said okay I want to buy 1000$ which they calculated it to be a total of 720,000.000 in my local currency.
An account was given to me which was a personal accounts, I then asked why the account don't have the business name, they said it was because of the regulation in the country to avoid story that touches.
And I paid the balance with my other account.
Once the payment was confirmed they asked for my deposit address which I gave them my Binance BTC deposit address and btc worth 1000$ was sent to my wallet immediately which is currently worth 1006$ as of the time of this post now.
After I confirmed the transaction that was when I left the shop and consider that purchase as my birthday present.

Am planning on holding for long till my next year birthday which is 15th December 2023.

Don't know if moving the BTC to my trust wallet or looking for a hardware wallet which one will be better off for such small amount which I planned to hold for a long period.

Happy birthday to my self.