Akoin, the cryptocurrency by celebrity and businessman Akon of Akon Lighting Africa Solar initiative debuted live this Wednesday at 11 am EST on Bittrex Exchange under the ticker AKN. For Akoin Ambassadors, it was a dream come true. I wrote about Akoin as one of the technologies poised to impact Africa beyond 2030 in my book The Last Digital Frontier: The History and Future of Science and Technology in Africa.
Akoin has ambitions to become a major digital currency for Africa and the world. Akon has even secured funding and approval to build a multibillion-dollar crypto city in Senegal, West Africa where the currency is poised to be tested for long-term cashless society use cases.
A similar and potentially impactful token SKYBIT is currently being piloted in Myanmar offering a decentralized exchange, digital asset conversion as well as conversion to Myanmar Kyat. Like Akoin, SKBIT hopes to support local businesses to leverage mobile banking, digital wallets, and asset conversion to carry out local and international trade. One other use case is the network effect of remittances linking the global Diaspora with those back home.
It remains to be seen what the timeline is for mass adoption of crypto and digital wallets but the movement is here. From Akoin to SKYBIT and many other innovative tokens and platforms out there, there is still time for you to join us on this journey. Buy some tokens, gift some tokens, download a digital wallet, link to your mobile money account, or get a crypto ATM and help us launch a cashless society backed by financial inclusion especially for the unbacked.