Cryptocurrencies have been drawing the attention of people from all over the world, and all walks of life, in the last 12 months, largely due to Bitcoin’s price rise from around $5,000 to nearly $60,000 during this time period. Other cryptocurrencies have also done extremely well in the same period, which shows that it is the entire sector that has grabbed people’s attention, rather than just one cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology are being used to support multiple projects and ventures now across the world, and one of the most interesting cases is being seen in Kenya, where a coin developed by the rapper Akon is being used in the development of a $2 billion city complex.
Akoin (AKN) is the cryptocurrency in question, which has been developed through funding by the Senegalese-American rapper Akon. It has successfully completed the trial phase of its deployment in the Mwale Medical and Technology City in Kenya, and it was also listed on the Bittrex crypto exchange at the time of this demo, back in November 2020. Now that the pilot stage has been completed successfully, the coin can be fully utilised and deployed in the project. It is estimated that there will be over $5 million in transactions taking place using Akoin, with 5,000 hospital workers, 2,000 merchants and over 35,000 residents of the city all beginning to use the AKN token.
This is a fantastic example of a crypto token being used to support a completely unrelated development, at first glance. However, on closer inspection, we see how crypto can help improve projects across various sectors, due to its features, and this is what is driving its adoption all over the world. Projects in areas as diverse as shipping, data storage, gaming and healthcare, to name just a few, are using blockchain and crypto to solve problems and improve their operations. One such example can be seen in the online gambling industry as well, where several operators are now using blockchain and crypto in a move that has completely changed the industry. These online gambling websites are offering players the option to place bets through cryptocurrencies, therefore giving them the chance to earn their winnings in this form. Thus, players can play blackjack using this guide and other casino table games through crypto, while blockchain is being used to make these games and the websites safer, quicker, and more reliable. This has led to a number of sites that are beginning to use these features, and so are providing an example of how these innovations can help change the way industries and businesses operate.
In terms of the AKN token, it is expected that it will be the exclusive currency of this upcoming complex by the end of 2022, and will be processing nearly $2 billion in annual transactions. AKN will be used to pay workers their salaries, while also being the basis for peer-to-peer transactions, lending, mobile bill payments and recharges and so on. The developers are also working on giving users a physical card, which will be connected to their AKN wallets and therefore can be used to transact across potentially 40 million global merchants, thereby opening up the world to users and not restricting AKN users to just those merchants operating in this planned city.
According to Lynn Liss, the co-founder of Akoin, this project is being used as a tester to gain insight and therefore be used as a blueprint for scaling AKN and increasing its adoption across Africa. It is going to be the official currency of the Akon City that is being developed in Senegal, while the project is also developing a blockchain incubator in the MMTC.