3 Best APIs for Crypto Payment Acceptance in Nigeria

Busha is Nigeria's first SEC-licensed digital asset platform offering crypto infrastructure for businesses and developers across Africa. The company operates two distinct API products: the Commerce API for accepting crypto payments, and the Business API for building comprehensive crypto wallets, on/off-ramps, and treasury management tools. Busha supports seven African currency corridors including NGN (Nigeria), KES (Kenya), GHS (Ghana), UGX (Uganda), TZS (Tanzania), XOF (West Africa CFA franc), and RWF (Rwanda) — making it one of the broadest multi-corridor crypto APIs on the continent. What the API Does The Busha Commerce API enables businesses to accept crypto payments from customers and settle proceeds to their accounts. It supports crypto deposits, currency conversion, and payouts via a RESTful interface. The Business API goes further — supporting full wallet management, on-ramp (fiat to crypto), off-ramp (crypto to fiat), and multi-currency treasury operations. Busha also offers stablecoin holdings as an inflation hedge tool and corporate card issuance for expense management. How Developers Use It Developers access the Commerce API documentation at developers.commerce.busha.co and the Business API at docs.busha.io. Authentication is via API keys — specifically the X-BC-API-KEY header for Commerce API requests. Keys are obtained from the Settings > API Keys section of the Busha dashboard. The API follows REST conventions with JSON payloads over HTTPS. A sandbox environment is available for testing before going live. Pricing Fiat transactions in Nigeria: NGN 150 flat deposit fee; NGN 107.50 withdrawal fee (inclusive of 7.5% VAT). Crypto withdrawal fees vary by network (e.g., 0.00005 BTC for Bitcoin withdrawals). No public monthly API subscription fee — enterprise Business API access requires contacting Busha directly. Authentication Commerce API uses the X-BC-API-KEY header. Keys can be either a secret key or a public key depending on the operation. Secret keys are used for server-side operations; public keys for client-side. Compliance Busha holds a license from the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), making it the first digital asset operator licensed by the SEC in Nigeria. This is a major compliance advantage for businesses that need to work with a regulated crypto platform. The company complies with Nigerian AML/KYC requirements and requires KYC verification for all business partners. Challenges and Gotchas (1) Commerce API and Business API are separate products with separate documentation — do not confuse them. (2) Rate limits are not publicly documented — high-volume integrations should confirm limits with Busha directly. (3) Fiat settlement is to NGN bank accounts only for Nigeria — no direct USD wire. (4) Enterprise Business API access may require more extensive onboarding than Commerce API. (5) Crypto volatility between deposit and conversion can affect settlement amounts if using non-stablecoins. Company Background Busha was founded in Nigeria and is headquartered in Lagos. The company began as a consumer crypto exchange and expanded into B2B crypto infrastructure, becoming the first platform to obtain an SEC digital asset operating licence in Nigeria. Busha targets both consumer users and business clients, with a growing enterprise segment offering treasury and payment APIs. FAQs Q: Is Busha regulated in Nigeria? A: Yes. Busha is Nigeria's first SEC-licensed digital asset platform, providing strong regulatory assurance for business partners. Q: What is the difference between Commerce API and Business API? A: Commerce API is for accepting crypto payments from customers. Business API provides full wallet, on/off-ramp, and treasury infrastructure for building your own crypto-enabled products. Q: Is there a sandbox for testing? A: Yes. Busha provides a sandbox environment for development and testing before production. Q: Can I use Busha to pay suppliers in Kenya from Nigeria? A: Yes. Busha supports cross-corridor settlements between NGN, KES, GHS, and other African currencies via crypto-backed rails. Q: What cryptocurrencies are supported? A: Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, USDC, BNB, Solana, and other major assets are supported across multiple blockchain networks.

Busha Commerce API is the developer platform for Busha, Nigeria's leading regulated cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2019. While global exchanges like Binance and Coinbase face regulatory friction and account restrictions in Nigeria, Busha operates as a Nigerian-registered entity, holds all required local licences, and is fully compliant with Nigerian financial regulations. This makes Busha the most trusted and legally reliable option for Nigerian businesses that want to accept cryptocurrency payments, provide crypto trading services, or build crypto-powered products for Nigerian users. The Busha Commerce API specifically targets Nigerian merchants and developers who need crypto payment acceptance with Nigerian Naira settlement. Nigeria's digital economy is growing rapidly, but Nigerian businesses face persistent challenges with conventional payment infrastructure: card declines on international transactions, Forex restrictions limiting dollar-denominated purchases, and high remittance fees. Cryptocurrency — particularly USDT (a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar) — has emerged as a practical alternative for Nigerians making and receiving international payments. Busha Commerce bridges the gap between crypto payments and the Nigerian Naira banking system, enabling merchants to accept crypto from customers anywhere in the world and receive NGN in their bank accounts. The payment workflow is straightforward. A Nigerian merchant creates a payment request via the API, specifying the amount in NGN or a crypto asset. Busha returns a payment address (or QR code) and a unique payment ID. The merchant displays this to the customer. When the customer sends crypto to that address, Busha detects the blockchain transaction, converts it to NGN at the current exchange rate (if NGN settlement is selected), and delivers a webhook notification to the merchant's server confirming the payment. The merchant can then fulfill the order knowing the NGN equivalent has been credited to their Busha balance. Exchange rate endpoints provide real-time NGN/BTC, NGN/ETH, and NGN/USDT rates based on Busha's live market rates. These rates reflect the actual rates at which Busha will settle payments — not third-party price data — ensuring Nigerian merchants display accurate expected payment amounts to their customers. The rates include Busha's exchange margin, so what the merchant sees is what they will receive. Webhook notifications are the backbone of the payment detection system. When a payment is received and confirmed on-chain, Busha sends an HTTP POST to the merchant's configured webhook URL with full payment details: amount paid, asset type, exchange rate applied, NGN value, and transaction status. The webhook payload is signed with a secret key so merchants can verify it genuinely came from Busha. This event-driven architecture means Nigerian merchant backends respond immediately to payments without polling. For Nigerian freelancers and service providers, Busha Commerce enables a particularly useful workflow: generate a shareable payment link for a specific invoice amount, send it to an international client, receive USDT payment from anywhere in the world, and settle to NGN via Busha's banking integration. This circumvents the delays and fees of international wire transfers and the restrictions that Nigerian bank accounts sometimes face on receiving foreign currency. The sandbox environment allows Nigerian developers to test the complete payment flow — creating test payment requests, simulating test payments, and receiving test webhook events — without using real cryptocurrency. This makes integration development safe and fast. Busha requires business KYC verification including CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission) registration documents for merchant accounts — consistent with Nigerian financial compliance requirements. API keys are generated after verification in the Busha developer dashboard.