Akon has been in the news for the last few months and it hasn’t been about his music career. Off late, Akon has been all about crypto with his Akoin cryptocurrency making headlines. His plans of setting up a crypto city, Akoin city, in his homeland of Senegal have been well documented.
A few months ago we reported about his plans to deploy Akoin in a Kenyan metropolis and those plans seem to have come to fruition. The Kenyan metropolis is a well-planned and thought out area centered around a state of the art medical and technology center. The area is the brainchild of Kenyan billionaire Julius Mwale and is known as the Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC). The place is touted as a potential major attraction in the western part of the country in the near future.
The metropolis will utilize Akoin as its currency in what is seen as a pilot phase ahead of the opening of Akoin city in Senegal. The piloting starts later this month and will see residents transacting using the token. The cryptocurrency will be convertible into cell phone minutes as well as other forms of exchange.
The initial phase will be invites only and is projected to see about 30,000 transactions a month. Initial activity will be implemented through atomic swaps, merchant services and an Akoin debit card. The rollout is expected to expand by mid next year with 35,000 residents able to transact with the coin. The volume of the service is expected to receive a major boost with workers at the 5,000 bed Hamptons Hospital expected to take part. Transactions will also be made possible by about 2,000 local merchants aroud the area.
The November 11 launch of MMTC coincides with its listing on crypto exchange Bittrex. The AKN token will now be traded globally and people will have the chance to hold it as well. The launch of Akoin at MMTC marks an important step in the journey for increased usage throughout the continent. In a joint statement, Akon and MMTC founder Julius Mwale said;
“We believe the platform can make serious headway in bringing millions of people into the formal economy, which is a critical step for economic growth.”
The Akoin token is described as a utility token that powers atomic swaps between cryptos, fiat and mobile phone credits which are a popular store of value in many developing countries. The pilot phase in Kenya and the eventual deployment in Senegal could lead to even more adoption throughout the continent in the future.
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