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Patricia Exchange Review: What you need to know in 2024
Swen Keller
- URL: https://new.patriciadev.com
- Headquarter: Lithuania
- Year Founded: 2015
- Platform App: Web/Mobile
- No. of Cryptos: Bitcoin, Tron, XRP, USDT, PUTX, Dogecoin, Ethereum
- Fiats Available: Nigerian Naira (NGN), USD, GHS, and AED
- Withdraw Method: Bank transfer (currently not available) and Patricia Token
- Payment Method: Bank transfer for existing customers and crypto deposits
Patricia Exchange Review: Our Opinion
Patricia cryptocurrency exchange is one of the largest crypto exchanges in Nigeria but the company is fighting to survive since it suffered a $2 million hack in 2022.
The crypto exchange has since April 2023 stopped all withdrawals and deposits.
Aside from its financial challenges, our hands-on experience with this cryptocurrency exchange revealed that it is a limited trading platform offering only 7 cryptocurrencies and supporting only the Nigerian Naira with 3 other fiat currency payment options.
There are also no advanced trading features like margin trading or futures trading; rather users simply exchange BTC and Naira or other digital currencies for the Nigerian local currency.
Company Overview About the Patricia Exchange
Founded in 2015, Patricia is headquartered in Lithuania and is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the Nigerian crypto marketplace.
The company Patricia Technologies was founded by Hanu Fejiro Agbodje, who is the current CEO of the crypto exchange.
Hanu Agbodje founded Patricia after he was ripped off online when trading trying to exchange cryptocurrencies his uncle sent him from the United Kingdom.
He determined to create a safe and secure ecosystem for cryptocurrency transactions. However, in 2022, this mission fell through as the exchange suffered a breach and lost $2 million.
In a bid to pacify irate customers who lost funds due to the exchange-wide hack, Patricia launched its token called the Patricia Token (PUTX), in the hope that it suffices as a repayment solution.
However, their frustrated customers weren’t appeased and kept demanding repayments.
Currently, Patricia Exchange has stopped accepting new users though it states that it will soon reopen.
On the other hand, based on our team’s first-hand trials with this exchange, we can confirm that existing users aren’t able to withdraw funds in the form of fiat currency from the platform only as the Patricia token.
Pros
- Beginner-friendly
- It offers bill payments with Bitcoin
Cons
- It has been hacked
- Deposits and withdrawals are currently unavailable
- Limited features
Key Features
Patricia Refill
Patricia refill is a feature that allows you to buy airtime, purchase data, and pay bills with the Bitcoin in the Patricia wallet anywhere and at any time.
Patricia Refill can be accessed from the Patricia website and in the mobile app.
Buying data and airtime or paying cable TV bills with Patricia Refill is easy.
To pay your Cable subscription with Patricia Refill, do the following:
Scroll to your dashboard and click “Refill”.
Click on Cable TV/Internet Subscription“.
To make a cable subscription, click on “Cable Payment”.
Next, select your preferred payment method. Patricia supports payment with Naira or Bitcoin.
Select the bill type and fill out all required information to complete the order.
Once this is done, your cable TV account will be automatically credited within 20 minutes to 1 hour.
Note: If you exceed 3 bill payments or purchases in a month, you will be required to use two-factor authentication for subsequent transactions.
There is also a limit on third-party airtime purchases. The daily limit for data and airtime refills to third-party numbers is 10,000 Naira.
If you exceed this limit, two-factor authentication is required.
Alternatively, you can add the number to your beneficiary.
To add a number to the beneficiary list, do the following:
Open the Refill page
Input the number and select the network provider
Enter the amount of airtime you wish to buy in the field provided
Click on “Save Beneficiary”
Click “Continue” to authorize the transaction.
Patricia Card
The Patricia Card is a Bitcoin debit card that allows you to make payments directly from your Patricia account 24 hours a day and on the go.
The card is only available to Patricia account holders.
Patricia has a customization feature that allows you to choose how you want your card to appear and the name to be displayed on the card.
The Patricia debit card can be used for online purchases on various ECommerce platforms around the globe.
The debit card can also be used to withdraw cash at any ATM in the country.
Due to the regulation of Nigerian crypto bodies by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Patricia has temporarily discontinued the issuance and use of the Patricia debit card.
Cryptocurrencies Available on Patricia
Patricia supports 7 cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Tron, Ethereum, Dogecoin, USDT, XRP, and Patricia Token (PTK).
Fees
Patricia charges 100 Nigerian Naira (NGN) for withdrawals. For deposits, Patricia doesn’t charge any fees but there is a stamp duty of 50 Nigerian Naira (NGN) charged by the depositor’s bank.
There is also a $2 fee charged by the exchange for transfers between Patricia’s wallets and a $5 fee when transferring to an external wallet.
Payment Methods
As a Nigerian-based exchange, the Patricia cryptocurrency exchange only supports bank transfers in Nigeria. However, this is currently on hold till further notice by the crypto trading platform.
Security
Drawing from our in-depth analysis of this exchange, we noticed that the Patricia crypto exchange is not secure, since it suffered a security breach recently.
In January 2022, Patricia Exchange suffered a breach and lost $2 million worth of its customers’ Naira and digital assets.
The target of this breach was the Patricia retail trading app.
Patricia did not inform its customers that it had suffered a breach until May 2023 when withdrawals were discontinued as a result of the effects of the breach.
In an email sent to users, the company notified customers of the breach and the suspension of all withdrawals.
According to the information released by the Patricia team, Patricia’s services are divided into 3 arms: Patricia OTC Desk, Patricia Personal, and Patricia Business.
The breach only affected Patricia’s Personal. All other crypto balances on the other platforms were unaffected. According to Patricia, “all customers’ and merchants’ assets are secure”. But many customers believe otherwise especially since they have been unable to access their funds for months.
While the company claims to have identified the source of the breach with plans to initiate legal action, a clear timeline for when users should expect access to their accounts or their digital assets is yet to be relayed to users.
On August 18, 2023, Patricia announced the launch of a token, Patricia Tokens (PTK) as a fundraising tactic. Patricia Tokens are debt management tokens and all customers’ outstanding balances in Naira and Bitcoin were converted into PTK.
This is supposed to help with the repayment of a huge percentage of customers’ funds lost. Patricia has however admitted that the success of the repayment plan is heavily dependent on the capital raised from Patricia Tokens.
The token is similar to an IOU (I Owe You) document which serves as a means for Patricia to acknowledge its debt to its users and promise to pay holders 1 Tether.
PTK tokens will be available to customers who lost their naira and Bitcoin when the Patricia Plus App launches.
The release of Patricia Tokens was not well received by customers who have been unable to access their funds for months.
Several customers voiced their displeasure with Patricia over the conversion of their funds to tokens without customer consent.
There are also questions about how the token was backed and whether customers will ever be able to access their funds.
Staking Rewards
Patricia, though one of the largest crypto exchanges in the Nigerian crypto market, does not support any form of staking.
Opening a Patricia Cryptocurrency Exchange Account
Patricia isn’t currently accepting new users, however, you can download the new mobile app and wait till they start accepting new users again.
That said, to open a Patricia cryptocurrency exchange account go to https://new.patriciadev.com.
Next, scroll down to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store download button at the bottom of the screen.
Note that the Sign Up page on the official Patricia website isn’t functional as it gives a 404 error.
To register much later, you’ll need to download the mobile app.
Click the Patricia app button on your device’s operating system and install it.
Once it launches, you’ll see a message on your screen stating that Patricia no longer accepts new users on this app but on their new one.
Click the button for the new app and it’ll redirect you to the mobile app screen for the new Patricia app on the Google Play Store.
After downloading it, launch the new Patricia cryptocurrency exchange app.
Once it has opened, tap the middle button (big P) to get to the Sign Up page.
Tap on “Sign Up”.
You’ll see a message pop up stating that Account Creation is Unavailable. So to register an account you’ll need to check back later.
Trading Experience
The trading experience on Patricia is quite basic, as the company simply allows users to exchange BTC and naira and vice versa.
Aside from BTC and naira pairs, Patricia supports the exchange of a few other cryptocurrencies for the Nigerian naira.
There are no advanced charts, margin trading, futures trading, etc.
Customer Support
Patricia offers customer services via phone at (234) 013438599 and email at hello@mypatricia.co.
Customers can also contact the support team by submitting a support ticket on the platform.
Customer Satisfaction
Our detailed first-hand scrutiny of this crypto exchange showed that it falls short in several areas.
The majority of users’ reviews about this platform are complaints.
The major complaint of customers is their inability to access their funds for months.
Education
Yes, Patricia Exchange offers education via its Learn platform.
The education center isn’t exhaustive and contains basic topics about Bitcoin (What is Bitcoin) and how to use the crypto exchange for supported transactions.
Is Patricia Right For You?
Patricia is a basic exchange. It is right for beginner crypto traders in Nigeria who want to exchange supported digital currencies for the Nigerian Naira.
Final Thoughts
The company, Patricia is one of the largest exchanges in Africa and Nigeria, however, it is fighting for its existence after suffering a major breach.
Users have expressed displeasure with the exchange and its handling of the hack.
That said, Patricia seems to have a roadmap via its token to regain its presence in the region.
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Yes, Patricia still works in Nigeria but with limited services. Its services are currently only available to existing customers.
Patricia isn’t very secure as it was hacked in 2022 and lost over $2 million of customer funds.
Currently, withdrawals have been paused on the exchange. However, it supports cryptocurrency withdrawals and bank account transfers.
Patricia is a Nigerian-focused crypto exchange headquartered in Lithuania.
We always try to provide the most accurate information available, and make sure our team follow through.
If you want to know more about our Crypto Exchanges Review Methodology follow the link below
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