BlockDown 2020 is bringing the best brains of the blockchain to the mainstage in a virtual 2-day conference. As BlockDown 2020 media partners, we will bring you a rundown of exciting stories from talks, fireside chats, panel discussions as we cover blockchain technology during and beyond COVID-19, news from the DeFi world and more. Stay tuned!
On the first day of the power-packed virtual conference, we attended a press conference with Akon on the Akoin Project.
Panelists included:
Akon : Akoin Chairman & Co-Founder
Jon Karas : Infinity Management President & Co-Founder
Julius Mwale : Principal Investor Mwale Medical & Technology City
Lynn Liss : Akoin’s Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder
Bruno Macchialli : Delchain Limited’s Executive Head of Operations
Akoin’s new partnership
Jon Karas: Akoin has teamed up with Julius Mwale, Principal Investor Mwale Medical & Technology City. Akoin is in the process of launching a joint venture with Mwale Medical & Technology City (MMTC). It is a green smart city in Western Kenya. Akoin will process all the transactions occurring within the city! Akoin will be the first cryptocurrency to power smart cities. The launch of Akoin is imminent now.
Julius Mwale: Akon has this precious dream, pull Africa out of poverty. Give them resources. Akoin will be the exclusive cryptocurrency in Akon city in Senegal. We are looking at a million transactions in Akoin. Right now all the transactions in Mwale Medical & Technology City city are digital. We want to migrate to Akoin. Akoin will be the dominant marketplace. We expect Akoin to run 70% of Africa by 2025.
What is the measure of success for Akoin?
Akon: All the developing countries use Akoin as a mode of transfer of value for day to day to use. Finance is what moves Africa forward. We have a young population that is very tech-friendly. Once we lock down the perfect financial instrument that everybody can trust, Akoin can be the future currency for the continent.
Where do you see the benefits of the green smart city?
Jon Karas: We have over 50M transactions a year. The mobile phone operators charge a hefty fee. The Akoin system will not charge such fees. We will be able to move the money smoothly. The population can perform transactions, save a lot of money. If you are doing transactions within the Akoin network you are doing it for free.
What kinds of things have Akoin been up to?
Jon Karas: Big focus on Tech build, adding partners, talking to exchanges, token generation event. Joint Venture with Julius and Mwale Medical & Technology City (MMTC).
Lynn Liss: Most exciting is the token launch event and this major exchange.
Akon: There are things I am currently pulling together. I am in the position to announce right now.
What concrete solutions can Akoin bring in the post-Covid-19 world?
Jon Karas: Solutions through our Dapp partners
- Addressing last-mile solutions
- Land registries
- Medical testing
Dozens of other solutions will be onboarded again. Keep looking at Akoin.io. 26% of adults in Africa have access to smartphones. One of the biggest concerns in Africa is transparency and security. Blockchain will solve that.
Julius Mwale: The current platform of Akoin should be able to perform a transaction for small phones. Smaller transactions are getting tested with small phones.
Jon Karas: By the end of next year over 600 M people in Africa will have smartphones. We will make sure that the population has affordable and easy access to basic smartphones.
Julius Mwale: In Kenya, cellphone access is 100%. So Africa is very quickly developing. There is a big agenda in Kenya where Universal Health care will cover the entire population by 2022. The COVID-19 will accelerate access to Health care.
If there is any point of time where provisions would be made for things to come to Nigeria? (Consider that Nigeria has the highest interest in Blockchain and is also the most populous.)
Jon Karas: Bitminutes is working in Nigeria. We are very much focussed on Nigeria.
Akon: It was really about finding the right partner.
Akon’s cryptocurrency journey
Akon: It beings way back. I thought, what was needed for Africa’s development. I realized that I can create my cryptocurrency. So, I reached out to Jon Karas. We have been pulling a team together since then. We are now moments away from launch.
On working with Akon
Lynn Liss: Jon heard that I was working on the social impact space. This was the time when ICOs were happening. I spoke to many CEOs from top banks and realized that there was not much going on in terms of evolution in the financial world.
Jon Karas: This is Akon’s vision. He told us, “This is what I want to do. Go figure it out”. We took the time to figure out the best model and the pathway.
What kind of work does Delchain do for Akoin?
Bruno Macchialli: Delchain brings a lot of behind the scenes choices for the token generation event. We also help to identify some of the central dapp partners. Delchain is a financial advisor. We can bring traditional financial services and decentralized ones under one roof.
Key personal milestone
Akon: People will use Akoin for their daily needs.
Lynn Liss: Local vendors using Akoin
Previously, we covered Binance CEO, CZ’s fireside chat on QE to Pump Bitcoin Price. Stay tuned, we have more updates coming from Blockdown 2020.
