Some celebrities do not waste time when it comes to utilizing cryptocurrencies to the maximum. One example is Akon. The singer is reportedly building a city powered by a coin named after himself – Akoin.
According to Business Insider, the singer tweeted that he had finalized an agreement to actually build what is called “Akon City”, a 2,000-acre town in Senegal. The entire city will be run on the new coin. According to Akon, the city will look something like “real life Wakanda” from the movie “Black Panther”, as reported by press.
Akon is building the city on a “cryptocurrency-basis”, as he had previously shared that he believes that blockchain is crucial to the development of Africa and the continent’s growth, a point that was also brought up during WEF 2019. Another proponent of developing blockchain in Africa is none other but Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter. The singer previously lived in Senegal before moving to the US.
In his words, as reported by the Business Insider:
Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology offer a more secure currency that enables people in Africa to advance themselves independent of the government.
The Akoin will be made available to all African countries, according to the coin’s website. In a sense, Akoin will serve as the uniting crypto for the oldest continent and will empower it.
The project is different from most cryptocurrencies in that Akoin will allow a new ecosystem to thrive based on allowing people to borrow money, get credit, access different government services and many more. The digital wallet and the whitepaper of Akoin will go live some time in February 2020.
Once the project is live, Akon plans to expand the presence of the coin, find new partners and build out the Akon City, starting from the designs. While the Akoin is not available yet, interested parties can apply to test the Akoin Beta.