How to Send Money to Nigeria From the USA

The Living with Bitcoin Series is a series where we share bitcoin use cases and how to live the bitcoin lifestyle. 

There has been an increase in the number of Nigerians emigrating to the US. In Nigeria, we have a special name for emigrating to another country — Japa. 

Let’s take a look at some facts.

In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, it was discovered that about 45% of Nigerians plan to move to another country within the next 5 years. 

One thing about Nigerians is that when they travel they actually do very well for themselves. The American Migration Policy Institute revealed that 66 percent of Nigerian-Americans over the age of 25 hold a graduate degree compared to 31% of their US-born counterparts. This is about 113% more than the average American in that age range. There is a growing number of Nigerian-American entrepreneurs building businesses in the US. Nigerian-Americans are also doing well in other fields like arts, entertainment, and sports. 

Challenges with Remittances

Interestingly, these Nigerian immigrants don’t forget about their loved ones back home. They do their best to help them with some of the daily expenses or with financial problems that may arise from time to time.

But there’s a catch — remittances to Nigeria from the US aren’t as smooth as one thinks. 

• Remittance services like Western Union only operate Monday to Friday and recipients can only receive money sent when the banks are open. 
• Companies that want to engage in remittance services must go through stringent requirements and pay for expensive licenses.
• Cross-border remittances often come along with high fees. 

Bitcoin solves this!

Of course, the best way to send money to Nigeria from the USA is through bitcoin. 

• It’s comparatively cheaper than other remittance services
• It works 24/7, 365 days, and even during the holidays
• It’s so much faster
• It’s safer
• It’s more transparent
• Your privacy and that of the recipient are safe. 

And the list goes on and on. 

How to send money to Nigeria from the US

There are so different bitcoin wallets in the US that you can use to send bitcoin to Nigeria. We have an excellent step-by-step tutorial on how to send bitcoin from Cash App to Bitnob. 

Unfortunately, we will not be able to cover the process for all the bitcoin wallets out there. But if there’s anything we’re sure about is that whatever bitcoin wallet you sign up to in the US gives you at least one of the following options through which you can send bitcoin to another bitcoin wallet no matter the location of the receiver:

• Sending bitcoin via on-chain
• Sending bitcoin via the lighting network through a lightning invoice
• Sending bitcoin via the lightning network through a lightning address

Let’s walk you through each of them.

Sending bitcoin via on-chain

What is it?

Onchain transactions are transactions that happen directly on the blockchain. The blockchain is the digital ledger where all bitcoin transactions are recorded. Transactions done on-chain are safer and more transparent but compared to transactions done on the lightning network, it takes a little longer for someone to receive the bitcoin that was sent to them (but at least you can be sure that it will get to them safe and sound). 

What do you need to get from the person you want to send bitcoin to?

You need to get the person’s bitcoin address. On the Bitnob app they can locate their bitcoin address by following these steps:

• Tap “Receive” in the quick links section of the home page
• Tap “Receive Onchain” 

When they tap on Receive on-chain, their bitcoin address will be revealed and they can send you that address so you can send them bitcoin via onchain.

Sending bitcoin via the lighting network through a lightning invoice

What is it?

A lightning invoice is an invoice that enables the recipient to receive bitcoin via the lightning network. The lightning network is a secondary level on the bitcoin blockchain. This ensures speedy bitcoin transactions with lesser fees. A typical lightning invoice contains the amount to be paid, the destination of the payment, metadata, and a message.

It looks a lot like this: 

lnbc20m1pvjluezpp5qqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqqqsyqcyq5rqwzqfqypqhp58yjmdan79s6qqdhdzgynm4zwqd5d7xmw5fk98klysy043l2ahrqsfpp3qjmp7lwpagxun9pygexvgpjdc4jdj85fr9yq20q82gphp2nflc7jtzrcazrra7wwgzxqc8u7754cdlpfrmccae92qgzqvzq2ps8pqqqqqqpqqqqq9qqqvpeuqafqxu92d8lr6fvg0r5gv0heeeqgcrqlnm6jhphu9y00rrhy4grqszsvpcgpy9qqqqqqgqqqqq7qqzqj9n4evl6mr5aj9f58zp6fyjzup6ywn3x6sk8akg5v4tgn2q8g4fhx05wf6juaxu9760yp46454gpg5mtzgerlzezqcqvjnhjh8z3g2qqdhhwkj

What do you need to get from the person you want to send bitcoin to?

You need to ask them to generate a lightning invoice for the specific amount you want to send to them. Once they create the lightning invoice, they send you the details and you’ll use that lightning invoice to send them bitcoin. 

Unlike, on-chain transactions, sending bitcoin via the lightning network happens in seconds. 

On the Bitnob app they can generate their lightning invoice by following these steps:

• Tap “Receive” in the quick links section of the home page
• Tap "Receive via Lightning" 
• Input the transaction details, and complete it with a description 
• Tap "Create Invoice" 

When they tap on Create Invoice, their lightning invoice and a QR code will be revealed. They can then send you the lightning invoice by copying it or tapping on “Share”.

Sending bitcoin via the lightning network through a lightning address

What is it?

A lightning address looks like an email address but it’s more like a unique identifier through which people can send you bitcoin via the lightning network. 

A lightning address from the Bitcoin app looks like this: Your Username + “bitnob.io”. So my lightning address would look like maryimasuen@bitnob.io.

With a lightning address, you don’t have to create an invoice before someone sends you bitcoin. They just need to share their lightning address and you can easily send bitcoin of any amount to them. 

What do you need to get from the person you want to send bitcoin to?

If your bitcoin wallet supports lightning addresses, you can ask for their lightning address and send them bitcoin through their lightning address. On the Bitnob app, if they have their lightning address set up, they can easily copy their lightning address by clicking on “Actions” and then on “View Lightning Address” and send their lightning address to you. 

If they don’t have a lightning address set up on the Bitnob app, you can share this step-by-step tutorial on how to set up their lightning address.

It’s easy to send money to Nigeria from the USA. With Bitnob nowhere seems far anymore. Download Bitnob to get started!