Adaverse, a joint accelerator programme founded by EMURGO Africa and Everest Ventures Group, has successfully participated in a pre-seed round to assist Bitmama‘s aim of harnessing blockchain and other frontier technologies. The aim of this is to remove cross-border payment barriers in Africa.
Adaverse was able to participate in the round thanks to the assistance of Everest Ventures Group.
Bitmama is a Web3 payment platform that uses bitcoins to improve financial transactions in Africa. Ruth Iselema, a Nigerian female entrepreneur, is spearheading the drive to expedite cross-border payments using Bitmama.
In Africa, traditional payment channels have long been plagued by issues such as unreliability, excessive processing fees, remittance delays, and a lack of transparency. These issues have been present for a long time.
International financial transactions, in particular, have proven onerous due to the requirement to convert local currencies into dollars and then back into the recipient’s local currency.
The introduction of Web3 solutions opens up new possibilities for Africa’s rapidly developing economy.
This is true despite the fact that individual African countries have implemented varying policies regarding cryptocurrency.
“We are thrilled to support Bitmama and are committed to providing advice and mentorship support to help them stay ahead of the curve in the fast growing Web3 business,” stated Vincent Li, Adaverse’s founding partner.
“We are delighted to help Bitmama and are committed to offering advising and mentorship assistance.”
Read also: Adaverse backs Ejara, woman-led DeFi platform to democratize African finance
The Need Bitmama Meets
Bitmama was established in 2016 by Ruth Iselema for the sole purpose of simplifying the process of buying and selling cryptocurrencies for anyone anywhere on the African continent. The project began as a WhatsApp community for peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions and has since developed into a Web3 platform with a full suite of products.
These products include a multi-coin digital wallet, peer-to-peer crypto trading, wallet-to-wallet global transfers, remittances with stablecoins, direct currency conversion, on-ramp and off-ramp transactions for traders, asset staking features, and its most iconic crypto debit cards.
The recent dollar/FX shortages encountered in major African markets and currency devaluation have led to an increased demand for cash to facilitate global purchases, and businesses are looking for alternative payment options for cloud services and digital infrastructure.
Bitmama is notable for continuously developing to discuss the pain points of its users, and one of these is the recent dollar/FX shortages encountered in major African markets.
As a reaction, Bitmama came up with the idea of crypto cards as a solution to address these difficulties. Crypto cards give customers the ability to store and spend their cryptocurrency in the same manner as a conventional debit card.
Changera: Innovative Crypto debit cards offered by Bitmama
Alongside the multi-coin cryptocurrency wallet, Bitmama recently introduced Changera to power cross-border payment services and facilitate the use of virtual and physical cryptocurrency debit cards globally with a monthly spending limit of over $10,000. Changera will also enable the use of crypto debit cards. Bitmama is the first company in Africa to issue cryptocurrency debit cards that are backed by stablecoins.
The company combines blockchain payments with lifestyle products to appeal to customers who prefer straightforward user interfaces and less crypto jargon. In countries like Nigeria, where laws prohibit the use of naira cards for international transactions and where existing Web2 payment platforms don’t provide a suitable alternative, the cards have proven to be particularly useful.
In Nigeria, the regulations prohibit the use of naira cards for international transactions. As a consequence of this, Bitmama’s cutting-edge innovation has brought about the much-required respite across international borders.
Changera crypto debit cards have seen amazing success, recording rapid growth from 30,000 to over 100,000 users across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and the diaspora in general.
The amount of transactions has also been increasing by more than 100% month-on-month, which demonstrates the appeal of the product despite the fact that there has been very little marketing of it. Crypto debit cards have successfully democratised the use cases of cryptocurrency by allowing users to make day-to-day purchases online using stablecoins.
This has advanced blockchain adoption in markets that have been hesitant to adopt the technology. Companies like Bitmama, which are seeking to ease transactions deserve all the assistance available.