Blockchain In Africa & Around: A Nigerian Crypto Startup, Akon’s Wallet & More
Nigerian Crypto Remittance Startup Raises USD 750 K
Cowrie, a Nigeria-based fintech platform facilitating crypto remittance transfers announced that it raised USD 750 K from Stellar Development Foundation. The remittance platform allows Nigerians in other countries to send money to their families by converting their funds to NGNT, a token backed by Nigeria’s native naira currency. The funds are transferred directly to the local bank accounts of the recipients. The firm claims that it has processed around USD 27 Mn worth of trade since 2018.
Akoin Wallet out of beta in Kenya
The pilot implementation of Senegalese-American singer Akon’s backed cryptocurrency, Akoin was recently completed in Kenya’s Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC). Akoin’s executives are claiming that in July 2021, 5,000 hospital workers, as well as 2,000 merchants and 35,000 residents in the Kenyan facility, will push Akoin transactions worth at least USD 5 Mn each month.
Even African Companies are now buying Crypto
Meitu, a major Chinese tech company, had recently announced that it bought USD 40 Mn worth of crypto – USD 22 Mn in ether (15,000 ETH) and USD 17.9 Mn in bitcoin (380 BTC) last week. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley said that it will be offering bitcoin funds to its high net worth clients soon. Not just large companies around the world but SMEs in Africa are also getting int the crypto-buying zone off their balance sheet. South African SME LSD Information Technology, an open-source software firm announced that it bought bitcoin worth about USD 136 K last week.
In How Much Time Can you Build A Basic Blockchain Platform?
3.2 Months – This is as per a survey conducted by GoodFirms, a blockchain research firm. The average time period taken to develop a basic blockchain platform is 14 weeks. However, the time taken for the first MVP depends upon the application tools and technologies used by the blockchain developer.
Bitcoin is now bigger than Facebook
Bitcoin’s market cap rose to USD 1.07 Tn surpassing Facebook at USD 808.76 Bn. On March 13th, 2021, Bitcoin recorded a high of USD 61,683.86.
