After Mara and its $23 million deployed to expand its cryptocurrency transaction services in Africa, it is now KuCoin, a Seychelles-based platform, which boasts that it has collected $150 million from its investors, geared at its next stage of growth and expansion.
According to the company’s press release, the acquisition now values the company at more than $10 billion.
For comparison, this value is approximately equivalent to all of the cumulative foreign exchange reserves by the end of 2021, of CEMAC and WAEMU.
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“The fresh influx of funding will allow KuCoin to go beyond centralized trading services and grow its position in Web 3.0, including bitcoin wallets and other decentralized finance products, through branches of investment like KuCoin Labs and KuCoin Ventures,” the company’s statement stated.
This is the second high-impact fundraising, disclosed in less than 10 days by a business dealing in cryptocurrencies from Africa. Recently, it was Mara, a platform allowing Africans to transact cryptocurrency, which revealed that it had secured an investment of $23 million. Its leaders want to spend part of these monies to advise the Central African government on its choice to accept bitcoin, and to extend its services.
KuCoin, although headquartered in Africa, has a greater worldwide reach, and claims slightly over 189 million users, present in 200 countries. In addition to typical cryptocurrency trading activities, the site offers bitcoin loan services. The company’s objective is significantly greater. In November, it opened a nearly $100 million fund through its subsidiary in charge of venture capital to stimulate innovation in the area.
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This increased investor interest in Africa-based companies that offer bitcoin services comes in a climate characterised by stricter restrictions in the sector.
In the CEMAC zone, the central bank has virtually barred any chance of utilizing cryptocurrencies as an exchange value. The central bank in Uganda has similarly ruled cryptocurrency to be illegal. The Financial Markets Commission (SEC) has strengthened restrictions for issuing cryptoassets, or even traditional assets backed by cryptos.
KuCoin Seychelles KuCoin Seychelles
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh