Building Bitcoin Products for a Global Audience: Lessons from Munirat Olayiwola

Building Bitcoin products sounds exciting until you face the harsh reality of actually doing it at scale. It's not just about plugging into the blockchain and building a wallet. It's about building for real people. People in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, the United Kingdom, and many more countries. People with low-end Android devices. People with slow internet. People who have never heard the word "Satoshi."

During Bitnob’s recent webinar, Munirat Olayiwola, a full-stack software engineer, broke down what it takes to build Bitcoin products for a global audience. Beyond the buzzwords, beyond the hype, she shared hard truths and practical advice about designing with empathy, handling Bitcoin’s technical quirks, and staying compliant without compromising user experience.

This article carefully explains her key insights.

Bitcoin Solves Real Problems, Especially in Africa

Munirat explained that in many African countries, Bitcoin isn't just about investment or speculation. It’s about solving very real, everyday problems. Cross-border payments are often unreliable, expensive, and slow. With Bitcoin, a daughter in Dubai can send money to her mother in Nigeria in minutes, no need for Western Union queues or days of bank delays.

Yet many users don’t even care that they’re using Bitcoin. They just want to know: Can I receive money and spend it in my local currency? That’s what matters. Bitcoin becomes the invisible rail powering a better financial experience.

“Global” Is More Than Just Multiple Currencies

Too often, startups assume a product is “global” if it supports USD, EUR, and GBP. But Munirat challenges that idea: Global products must work for real people in real places with all their limitations.

That means:

• Designing for spotty internet
• Supporting low-end devices
• Accounting for unfamiliarity with BTC price volatility
• Translating crypto values into familiar currencies (NGN, KES, XOF, etc.)
• Supporting local fiat conversions and offramping

You’re not building for crypto-savvy Reddit users, you’re building for someone trying to buy food during a layover in Ethiopia.

User Experience Comes First

According to Munirat, Bitcoin UX is not as straightforward as fiat apps. Users can’t verify a recipient’s BTC address the same way they confirm a bank account name. Bitcoin addresses are long, complex strings. A single typo means the money is gone, and it’s not coming back. Good UX isn’t optional, it’s survival. Here’s what Munirat recommends:

• Use plain language, not crypto jargon
• Show fiat equivalents alongside BTC balances
• Support QR codes, copy-paste, and address validation
• Offer onboarding education, even if it’s just two screens

You’re building for first-time users, not blockchain engineers. Make it easy. Make it human.

Handle Fees Transparently

Bitcoin fees aren’t like your regular bank charges. They’re dynamic, optional (but essential), and based on transaction size, not amount. This confuses users who are used to fixed fees or zero charges for local transfers. As a product builder, you have options:

• Show real-time network fees in fiat
• Let users choose between high/medium/low priority fees
• Abstract the fee completely with a flat rate
• Batch multiple transactions to save on fees
• Use Lightning for faster, cheaper microtransactions

Whatever you choose, explain it clearly. Don’t let the tech get in the way of trust.

Prepare for Compliance 

Regulation around Bitcoin is unpredictable, especially in Africa. Some countries are silent. Others are hostile. Many are undecided. Munirat’s advice is to build for flexibility.

• Use feature flags to turn off specific services based on region
• Separate your compliance logic from core systems
• Keep audit logs, track transactions, and flag suspicious activity
• Prepare for KYC and AML requirements, even if they’re not enforced yet

Better to be ready than to be shut down unexpectedly.

Security Must Be Built In

From key management to user error handling, security is non-negotiable. In Bitcoin, one small mistake can cost millions. There's no “forgot password” button for private keys.

Best practices Munirat highlighted:

• Use trusted key management systems or HSMs
• Don’t store private keys in your database ever
• Enable multi-factor authentication
• Give users meaningful error messages (not just “400 Bad Request”)
• Alert users to suspicious logins or transactions

Security builds trust. Trust builds loyalty.

Bitcoin Infrastructure Is Hard, So Plan Accordingly

Running a Bitcoin node or Lightning node isn’t as simple as spinning a server. There are memory spikes, storage issues, peer failures, and sync delays. In Munirat’s words ‘‘if your infrastructure isn’t solid, you’re going to frustrate your users, and lose money.’’

Key considerations:

• Use multi-node architecture across cloud providers
• Monitor nodes for uptime and memory leaks
• Optimize bandwidth for low-connectivity environments
• Use SegWit and Lightning for lighter, faster transactions

Design for Humans, Not Just Technology

In closing, Munirat left us with this line:

“Bitcoin is global, but Bitcoin products must be human.”

No matter how fast, decentralized, or compliant your product is, if it doesn’t solve real problems in ways real people can understand and use, it will fail. From user onboarding to transaction fees, from wallet recovery to cross-border conversions, your product should feel intuitive, even if the tech underneath is complex. You can watch the full session here. 

Instead of building complex infrastructure, you can leverage Bitnob’s API to add powerful payment tools into your app with flexibility for your product and peace of mind for your team. Bitnob is already powering modern fintech experiences across Africa. Enabling this in your app is straightforward. Get started here and once you’re onboarded as a Bitnob partner, you’ll receive access to the API documentation, sandbox environment, and developer support.