Mobile-based crypto app Electroneum expands to four more African countries
Mobile-phone-based crypto app startup Electroneum has expanded to four more African countries. The new countries are Sierra Leone, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast.
Electroneum in-app electricity top-ups were already live in Nigeria, Mali, Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau. And with nearly 4.1 million registered users, the British blockchain startup is to date the only one providing electricity top-ups with crypto.
“Electricity and mobile phone top-ups are a great way for people living and working away from their home countries to help friends and families by sending them airtime and data or by refilling their electricity meters,” Electroneum CEO, Richard Ells said.
Electricity and mobile airtime are today considered daily essentials worldwide. Enabling people globally to send airtime and electricity refills back home using the Electroneum app saves time and the cost of transportation.
People working away from their places of origin have been sending money back home for generations, which can be costly as remittance fees are anywhere between 5% to 10% of the amount being sent.
Users also save time and on expenses using the Electroneum app for electricity and mobile phone top-ups rather than travelling to a shop.
“Topping up airtime and electricity with the Electroneum app costs a fraction of a US cent. In countries where the minimum wage is $2 to $3 a day or sometimes even less, to pay up to $5 for a $50 transfer makes a huge difference,” said Mr. Ells. “Top-ups are particularly useful for freelancers earning ETN on AnyTask.”
“We will soon enable people in Africa to purchase food items and construction materials with the Electroneum app and have them delivered to their families back home,” he added.
In many developing countries, airtime and data have become a medium of exchange. “This means immigrant workers can send their families airtime instead of a transfer through Western Union, for example, and the recipients can then trade that airtime for funds they then cab use to purchase food and other everyday essentials. And they can also top-up electricity meters remotely,” Mr. Ells explained.
In July of last year, Electroneum became the first cryptocurrency to enable electricity top-upsusing the ETN app. To date, in fact, no other crypto project has this function.
Late last year, the UK-based cryptocurrency project became the first to enable mobile airtime and data top-ups with the Electroneum app. And on 25 November 2020, Electroneum became the largest crypto startup to offer mobile airtime top-ups with coverage across 163 countries.
