The much-anticipated cryptocurrency created by Senegalese-American star and philanthropist Akon that will be used as the primary currency in his $6 billion Akon City in Senegal has launched. The akoin cryptocurrency (AKN) began trading against BTC and USDT on the Bittrex Global crypto exchange on Nov. 11.
The akoin cryptocurrency has also launched in Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) as a pilot for Akon City. The MMTC is a $2 billion metropolis centered around a 5,000-bed medical and technology complex located in Kenya’s Kakamega county, its website describes.
Julius Mwale, the principal investor of Mwale Medical and Technology City, said in a podcast interview on Blockdown 3.0 that the complex is expected to be fully completed by the end of this year, adding:
We’re going to use exclusively akoin by the end of 2021.
He explained that there are currently 35,000 residents and over 2,000 merchants, and the akoin cryptocurrency system will be implemented for them all. He is confident that by the end of next year, there will be more than 20,000 workers whom will be paid in the akoin cryptocurrency.
“We are expecting to do an initial 30,000 transactions starting next month,” Mwale continued. Residents will be able to swap between the akoin crypto and large mobile minutes, m-pasa, and the U.S. dollar, he detailed. After the initial 30,000 transactions in 30 days, a credit card will also be launched so that merchants that accept Visa or Mastercard will be able to accept akoin. The system will then be scaled up to facilitate 1.5 million transactions a month. He elaborated:
That’s 5,000 workers for 1.5 million transactions a month after the initial 30,000 [transactions].
