Akon Wants To Use Blockchain and His Cryptocurrency Akoin to Fuel a New Ecosystem in Africa

Singer, producer and entrepreneur Akon poses after the Gabbcon session during the Cannes Lions Festival 2018 on June 18, 2018 in Cannes, France.

A string of celebrities, from Paris Hilton to Ghostface Killah, have moved to capitalize on the booming technology. Among the latest—and most ambitious—is Akon, the five-time Grammy-nominated R&B singer turned philanthropist. Last year, he announced AKoin (pun intended), a mobile-friendly cryptocurrency designed to fuel an AKoin ecosystem.

The target market: Africa. The Missouri-born Akon is of Senegalese descent and wants to help young developers on the continent who are unable to reach their potential amid corrupt governments, soaring inflation and a digital divide. AKoin, he says, would provide a platform for entrepreneurs to create, market and monetize their own decentralized applications, or DApps. And his cryptocurrency could surmount a key challenge for doing business in a fragmented economy: 54 currencies for 54 … more.