If you are in the UAE or in the Middle East, then you probably have a Bitoasis account.
BitOasis is the Middle East & North Africa's leading bitcoin wallet and exchange.
If you don't, then let me give you a quick run through of how to sign up. It is fairly easy to create an account. Just go to https://bitoasis.net/en and fill out your details to sign up.
Subsequently, you will get a verification email similar to this, to be followed by an email confirmation welcoming you to Bitoasis.
Once you completed the signup, you can now log on to your account using 2 levels of authentication:
You can then proceed to fill up the rest of your details by going to the settings page - here you can put our Name, Address, andBank account details. To validate your identification and increase your limits, you will also be required to upload a copy of your photo ID (passport, visa, National ID).
You are pretty much good to go. You can now send and receive bitcoins using the address that will be provided to you by clicking the links at the left menu.
Bitoasis has covered a lot of information on their FAQ page which you can access here.
I did not encounter any issues receiving bitcoins into my wallet. It is also easy to buy bitcoin using your credit/debit card and even through money exhanges here in the UAE.
Should you decide to convert your BTC to fiat, here are some points that are not clear on the FAQs and you would surely want to know:
- You would need to sell your preferred amount of BTC at the prevailing price. This would then be transferred as a "Voucher Balance" which you can withdraw into your saved bank account details.
- There is a withdrawal fee of AED 22.00 per transaction.
- It takes 7 "working days" to process the withdrawal during which you have an option to cancel the request. They stick to their turn around times. I tried to ask to fast track the request but to no avail.
- After 7 working days, you will receive an email confirmation that the withdrawal request has been processed and that the amount will be credited into your stated bank account in 1 to3 working days.
I was honestly disappointed by the amount of time they took to release the funds. A simple withdrawal may actually take 10 working days!
Side note:
During these days that I was waiting for my funds to hit my bank account, I also initiated a withdrawal through coins.ph which only took less than 48 hours to be credited into my BDO bank account.
The only downside of this of course is the conversion (and withdrawal - should you wish to withdraw cash using a local UAE ATM) charges. There is a Php 200 charge when withdrawing from an ATM outside the Philippines.
Having said this, I plan to open up a USD bank account with BDO so as to minimize conversion charges since AED (UAE's local currency) is pegged to USD at AED 3.68 per dollar.
There are lots of other bitcoin wallets that you can try to use. I am still looking up for the best alternative to Bitoasis here in the UAE so until then, I will be using my coins.ph wallet.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I would be very grateful!
Screenshots taken from my own Bitoasis account and email.
