Why the Time for an African Cryptocurrency has Come

Cryptocurrencies have shifted the paradigm of money. Where money typically depends on central authorities such as banks and governments to secure its value, cryptocurrencies are secure by their cryptographic and decentralized nature. This opens limitless opportunities for more efficient, reliable, easy, and global monetary transactions.

Yet, existing cryptocurrencies have failed mass adoption. Most cryptocurrencies rely on mining which makes transactions slow and expensive for everyday usage - consuming vast amounts of computing power. Ease of use is limited: Typically they require users to enter a long secret key to access their wallet - once the key is lost or breached, the money is gone. Illegal or shady activity has been attracted to cryptocurrency networks where they allow for anonymous untraceable transactions. And: Wealth is typically created for early adopters of the currencies rather than their users.

That’s why we have created Wakanda Market, an app for Africa with an easy-to-use built-in cryptocurrency.

Wakanda Market is the marketplace on your phone:

Buy and sell anything: Find Fashion, Food, Electronics, Cars, Jobs, Events, Professionals, Repairs, Refills, Parts, and much more!
Location based: Browse shops or offers around you or in specific categories. Swipe right if you like an offer, swipe left if you dislike it!
Personal: Directly reach out to providers and discuss your needs with them, then order!
Anybody can participate: You can open a shop on Wakanda Market and offer your own goods and services with ease!

It combines the African Way with modern technology:

Ratings and reviews: Give feedback on providers after every job which will influence your followers’ search results.
Relationship based: Search results feature offers, shops and reviews by contacts or members of a joint community first.
Special Requests: Send specific requirements to multiple providers around you who can directly respond.
Pay with our built-in wallet with escrow service: You pay upfront, the provider receives the money only when the job is done.

Introducing ACoin, a purpose-built, asset-backed cryptocurrency based on the Stellar Protocol.

ACoin (₳) combines the simplicity of a mobile app with the potential of a modern cryptocurrency. Money in your Wakanda Market wallet is stored in ACoin. Offers in local currency automatically convert at the exchange rate at order time.

ACoin is…

…simple: Transactions can be done inside Wakanda Market with a typical password. In case of a lost phone or forgotten password, the wallet can be recovered.
…efficient: Transactions take about 5 seconds to complete and are free of charge.
…secure: We combine the benefits of a central transaction backend with the security of the decentralized blockchain. All transactions require to be signed both by a key on our backend and a key which is stored password-encrypted on the user’s device / outside our backend. Large transactions will require additional authentication from our backend.
…easy to get: Traders will be able to exchange local currency, mobile money, and other means. While we have thoroughly verified central traders in every country, shops anywhere can sign up as traders - similar to how you trade mobile money today in many African countries.
…robust: Our currency is based on the Stellar Protocol, an open source protocol for decentralized financial transactions and the basis of the Stellar Lumens cryptocurrency.
…African: The value of ACoin is mainly based on the currencies with which wallets are funded and Stellar Lumens. In addition, the accumulated reserves will be used to invest in African businesses - by giving out loans to trusted Wakanda Market users. As such, the value of ACoin lies where it belongs: in the excellence of its people.