Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
Kubitx, a Pan-African financial technology startup registered in Malta, announced the beta launch of its new cryptocurrency exchange on Thursday. The platform, which supports seven digital coins for the test, including BCH and BTC, will initially be available to users in Nigeria, before the company expands it to other African countries in the coming months.
Also read:Â Billion-Dollar Startups Flourishing in Switzerlandâs âCrypto Valleyâ
âHybridâ Exchange Facilitates Payments,
Remittances and OTC Trades
âToday we launch the Kubitx Exchange feature release version 0.1,â Victor Philips, co-founder and chief operating officer at Kubitx, told news.Bitcoin.com by telephone. He added that 150 people qualified for the companyâs open invitation to prospective beta test users seeking to participate in the launch.
Philips, a Nigerian economist and IT program manager based in Canada, said: â(The) first rollout spot for crypto-to-fiat conversions and bill payments using crypto is Nigeria â a suitable destination to test our platform, as the country boasts the largest population and active youth with massive crypto adoption, ranking sixth globally.â
Founded in 2017, Kubitx describes itself as a âhybrid digital asset exchangeâ that leverages distributed ledger technology to facilitate payments throughout Africa and abroad. It also offers trade financing, while handling remittances and over-the-counter trades. In addition, the exchange is registered as a legal entity in Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
With the beta release, users will be able try out the exchangeâs trading, deposit and withdrawal interface, among other features, using a demo token. Consumer feedback will then be incorporated into the final beta version, which will use real digital currencies such as BCH and BTC.
The trial period runs until Oct. 15, with official live trading to begin one week after that, Philips said. When fully operational, for example, a Nigerian who is a resident of the U.K. will be able to send money back home by depositing BCH through Kubitx. The recipient in Nigeria will then be able to withdraw funds in naira, the local currency.
âOnce the beta test is done, we will have a one-week window to implement any suggestions received from the users on our platform, after which the (official) beta launch takes place,â Kubitx wrote, in a separate online statement.
Crypto Adoption Growing Steadily in Africa
The digital currency ecosystem has grown rapidly in African countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe over the past few years. Bitcoin has particularly become popular. The wave of steady cryptocurrency adoption is widely viewed as key to driving economic growth and financial inclusion, while reducing remittance costs throughout the continent, which is home to roughly 1.2 billion people.
Africaâs booming technological advancement is reflected in the rapid growth of mobile phone use, both as a means of payment and to serve as bank accounts. With more than 100 million active users of mobile money transacting about $2.1 billion each year, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Africa has become a global leader in mobile-based financial settlements.
In Nigeria, Kubitx recently reached an agreement with Interswitch International, a major payment switching company for 99% of Nigerian banks, with an additional presence in Kenya and Uganda. It will operate its fiat-to-crypto payments and remittance business in those markets, the exchange said. It has struck similar deals with Modulus Global, NEM Foundation and in Zimbabwe with undisclosed local financial institutions.
âOur ecosystem will support cryptocurrency-to-fiat handshake to get transactions done using the transparency, speed, security, immutability and decentralized features of the underlying (blockchain) technology,â said Philips. The exchange hopes to open new trading platforms in Zimbabwe, Angola, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and elsewhere after it completes its planned $12.5 million initial coin offering later this year.
What do you think about the development of cryptocurrencies throughout Africa? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Kubitx.
The Bitcoin universe is vast. So is Bitcoin.com. Check ourWiki, where you can learn everything you were afraid to ask. Or read our news coverage to stay up to date on the latest. Or delve into statistics on our helpful tools page.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.