In a remarkable turn of events, Patricia Technologies, the troubled Nigerian crypto startup, has unveiled a strategic move to rejuvenate its operations. The company has announced the launch of its native token, Patricia Token (PTK), signaling a fresh beginning for its dedicated user base. With a spirit of optimism and a commitment to innovation, Patricia Technologies aims to reshape its path and recapture the trust of its community.

Underpinning this pivotal step is Patricia’s assertion that PTK is designed as a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. At an exchange rate of $1 for 1PTK, the company aims to offer its users a reliable alternative to their existing balances in both Bitcoin (BTC) and Naira. The startup hopes this strategy aligns with its goal of fostering stability and confidence within the crypto space.

Through an announcement on the platform’s official communication channel, now known as X (formerly Twitter), Patricia revealed its plans to migrate its operations to a new platform christened the Patricia Plus app. This transition is set to usher in a more seamless and user-friendly experience for traders and enthusiasts alike.

read also Nigeria’s Patricia Gains Momentum with Strategic Investment Amidst Security Breach Challenges

This strategic pivot comes on the heels of a challenging period for Patricia Technologies. The company recently faced a security breach that resulted in concerns over its financial assets. While ensuring its customers that their funds remained unaffected, the breach did disrupt access to the platform since April. This setback, however, has not deterred Patricia from its mission to innovate and deliver value to its users.

Critics have voiced concerns about the launch of PTK, suggesting potential motives behind the move. It’s worth noting that crypto exchanges often introduce native tokens for various reasons, including incentivizing trading, boosting liquidity, promoting community engagement, and even raising funds. While skepticism surrounds Patricia’s motivations, the company remains steadfast in its commitment to rebuilding trust.

In response to concerns, Patricia Technologies acknowledges the red flags raised by the crypto community. Notably, PTK is not yet integrated into cryptocurrency aggregators such as CoinMarketCap and Coingecko. These platforms provide valuable insights into tokens, including their value, issuance volume, contract address, and blockchain origin. Furthermore, PTK is absent from popular blockchains commonly used for launching native tokens.

read also PayPal Launches Own Crypto Stablecoin

Addressing these concerns directly, Patricia Technologies clarified that it would convert outstanding balances to PTK. While this conversion was executed without customer consent, the company aims to facilitate a seamless transition and alleviate any concerns surrounding the usability and exchangeability of the new token.

With the launch of PTK, Patricia Technologies is taking a bold step toward resurgence. This move aligns with the overarching vision of the company’s leadership, led by Hanu Fejiro Agbodje, who has demonstrated resilience in steering the ship through stormy waters. The recent investment by Oluwaseun Dania, CEO of Tradefada, serves as a beacon of confidence, reassuring the community of Patricia Technologies’ potential to reclaim its position as a cornerstone of Africa’s fintech landscape.

As Patricia Technologies embarks on this new chapter, its commitment to security enhancement will only be tested by time. Collaborating closely with law enforcement agencies, the company had assrured it is determined to identify and address vulnerabilities that may have contributed to past challenges.

Patricia Native token Patricia Native token

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

Nigerian blockchain startup, Patricia, is done with Nigeria. After a tumultuous life at the hands of the country’s regulators — SEC, then followed by CBN — the three years old startup has announced its new-found love, the Northern European country of Estonia.

“This global movement is set to strengthen our relationships with marketers and agencies in the global crypto markets, whilst also positioning us as the leading cryptocurrency trading company in Nigeria, Africa, and Europe,” Patricia noted in a statement, while adding that, “this recent development is accompanied by the launch of our new and upgraded Patricia app version 2, which features lots of new updates and upgrades, including crypto swap; a betting feature that enables users to use crypto to place bets.”

But Patricia is not the first to move out of Nigeria. Paga, one of the country’s leading payments companies has been jumping ships, leaping over Nigeria as the company’s primary place of administrative operations, well before Patricia’s latest move. The payments company recently re-headquartered from the small island nation off the coast of East Africa, Mauritius. While announcing — visibly out of annoyance — that he would never register a company again in Mauritius, Paga’s CEO and co-founder, Tayo Oviosu, stated that “the tax benefits of Mauritius can be gained onshore UK or offshore UK or Netherlands or Luxemburg.” 

Read also:Paxful Launches Paxful Pay Solution to Strengthen Cryptocurrency Adoption

Following Paga and Estonia-bound Patricia are a host of other startups, which have mostly flocked towards North America, notably the US state of Delaware. 

But then, there is a huge difference between simply registering a company overseas and having a company’s headquarters overseas. This difference is what authorities in Mauritius have been spending so much time explaining in recent times. 

In fact, as though the explanations have not been enough, the Mauritian Financial Services Commission recently elaborated on what it meant by the “substance feature” in maintaining a corporate headquarters in Mauritius. According to it, the substance feature is to the effect that to be able to claim benefits as a company headquartered in Mauritius, a company must be centrally managed and controlled. And to be regarded as a company centrally managed and controlled in Mauritius, the company shall do the following features: 

• The company shall have its office premises in Mauritius.
• The company employs or shall employ on a full-time basis, at the administrative or technical level, at least one person who shall be resident in Mauritius.
• The company’s constitution contains a clause whereby all disputes arising out of the constitution shall be resolved by way of arbitration in Mauritius.
• The company holds, or is expected to hold, within the next 12 months, assets (excluding cash held in a bank account or shares/interests in another corporation holding a Global Business Licence) that are worth at least 100,000 United States dollars (USD) in Mauritius.
• The company’s shares are listed on a securities exchange licensed by the Commission.
• The company has, or is expected to have, a yearly expenditure in Mauritius that can be reasonably expected from any similar corporation that is controlled and managed from Mauritius.

Finding The Difference Between Maintaining A Branch And Headquartering In A Foreign Country 

In Estonia where Patricia has moved to — for example — a company may be registered as a foreign branch or headquartered locally. 

Read also:GreenHouse Lab Launches Pan-African Fintech Accelerator

The major difference between a foreign branch and a local company headquartered in Estonia is that the foreign company with a local branch in Estonia is not a different legal entity than the foreign company. As such, the foreign company is responsible for the activities and duties of the branch in Estonia. 

All a company needs to do to maintain the branch in Estonia is to select a director or directors for the branch to be established and authorize them to open the branch. Also, unless at least half of the directors of the branch live in Estonia, the foreign company shall designate an Estonian contact person. In other words, the founder of the branch company need not live or have visited Estonia. 

On the other hand, to headquarter a company locally in Estonia, the founder must either hold an Estonian ID card or e-Residency card; or visit a notary in Estonia to verify the documents of incorporation. The necessity of e-residency is now the most interesting aspect of establishing a local corporate headquarters in Estonia. Estonia is the world’s first country to offer e-Residency. An e-resident is a foreigner for whom Estonia has constructed a digital identity and issued a digital identity card, based on their own country of citizenship’s identification credentials. However, it is vital to emphasize that e-residency does not grant tax residency, resident rights, or authorization to visit Estonia or the European Union. An e-digital resident’s ID is not also a real identity or travel document, and it lacks a photo.

Hence, instead of visiting a notary physically in Estonia, founders could simply obtain e-residency cards and register their companies in Estonia online. Once registered, the company will be regarded as an Estonian company for administrative and tax purposes. It may then proceed to register local branches in countries, including (in this case) Nigeria. The local laws of Estonia will also apply to the locally registered company.

To find out why African startups headquarter abroad, read the next article.

headquarter African startup abroad headquarter African startup abroad headquarter African startup abroad

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer