BitMinutes Inc. is a startup fintech firm based within the U.S. in 2012 by a crew comprised of Harvard and Stanford graduates and is a monetary providers know-how firm leveraging blockchain and pre-paid minutes tokenisation to supply monetary inclusion to the worldwide client. BitMinutes’ tokens additionally enable peer-to-peer value switch to tens of millions of bank and cellular accounts throughout 70 contracted international locations and pay as you go airtime top-ups to over four billion cellular accounts in over 120 international locations.
They not too long ago introduced that they added a characteristic to its software that can make it simple for Nigerians to buy Bitcoin (BTC) in addition to US {Dollars}. This performance is presently solely out there solely in Nigeria however later deliberate for Kenya as properly.
In just a little over two years in Nigeria, BitMinutes created a Trusted Agent Community (TAN) of retailers that settle for the Nigerian BitMinutes for items and providers in addition to exchange Nigerian BitMinutes for native foreign money. That community spans greater than 1,300 TAN brokers, serving greater than 7,000 residents.
The most recent characteristic will enable account holders to simply buy BTC of US {Dollars}, utilizing Nigerian BitMinutes, from their cellphone or laptop.
Talking in regards to the new characteristic, Tom Meredith, the CEO of BitMinutes, mentioned, “The Nigerian BitMinute is a stable coin that can be used as a currency in Nigeria. We believe adding this feature will further solidify our foothold in Nigeria, and further position to expanding our existing operations in other countries on the continent, such as Kenya.”
The latest announcement comes on the heels of one other one which Prime Belief, LLC, a extremely revered U.S.-based Belief and Custody agency, has partnered with the guardian firm of BitMinutes to broaden the TAN idea in the US.
BitMinutes plans to facilitate the growth of micro-credit lending in communities the place lending is uncommon and too costly for many particular person debtors. BitMinutes’ possession and transactional information will set up a brand new kind of client credit score rating for rising market customers who presently wrestle with restricted entry to capital and an absence of conventional banking providers.
As well as, BitMinutes will create funds platforms in international locations the place it launches to facilitate cellular funds just like the M-Pesa platform which has achieved success in Kenya, however which has not but been broadly adopted in different international locations, in response to the corporate.
Lastly, the attain of BitMinutes has been spectacular general. Based on their web site, “Many early stage startup endeavors can be risky since they typically raise capital for incomplete projects that do not address a proven consumer market. BitMinutes are in continuous production, targeting the combined global remittance and mobile prepaid industries market valued at $1.2 trillion.” BitMinutes’s world distribution in place can attain over four billion cell phones in addition to over 1.2 billion bank and cellular pockets accounts.
