Nairobi-based FinTech Mara Launches African Crypto Wallet Service
A new crypto project called Mara has now been introduced to the African crypto ecosystem. This project is backed by Coinbase Ventures, FTX affiliate Alameda Research, Huobi Ventures and other prominent venture capital firms and angel investors in the industry.
Mara is a digital financial ecosystem project that only looks set to take off with the launch of a cryptocurrency wallet for registered users in Nigeria.
Having raised $23 million in fundraising, Mara already has a waiting list of over 3 million users, most of whom are Nigerians. It is said that as the wallet app is developed, the full product will be rolled out to other countries including Ghana and Kenya.
According to co-founder and CEO Chi Nnadi, Mara was explicitly built for the African crypto market through money transfer services and with the idea of a broader suite of financial products that sets it apart from other global brokerages and exchanges.
The Mara wallet will offer services such as cryptocurrency brokerage services that will allow users to buy, send, sell and withdraw fiat and crypto. It will also provide users with a UK device that will allow them to access dollars, pounds and euros that can be used to buy and sell crypto.
In addition, the wallet app will include educational resources about cryptocurrencies and personal financial management, which users can access at any time.
A non-profit foundation called the Mara Foundation partnered with USD Coin issuer Circle will also be launched alongside the wallet app to promote the growth of blockchain development in Africa.
Mara aims to train 1 million developers on the continent using this non-profit foundation. And in addition, it unleashes an educational community, which will provide free resources on financial literacy, cryptocurrency, Web3 and blockchain education in a variety of languages.
The project also aims to launch a proprietary layer-1 blockchain solution called Mara Chain before the end of 2022. This blockchain is planned to have a native token to allow developers to build decentralized applications.
Mara is not the only one launching products to promote crypto adoption on the continent. The Central African Republic (CAR) has also recently launched its own national crypto hub, Sango.
Project Sango is designed to bring out the potential of blockchain technology on various fronts. It aims to attract businesses into the country as it looks to restore an economic boom and global connectivity.
Image source: Mara
