Bitcoin Forum

Senegal has given the green light to build Akon City—a 2,000-acre metropolis that will trade exclusively in a digital currency called Akoin.

Read more: HERE (https://decrypt.co/16572/its-official-akon-has-his-own-crypto-city-in-senegal?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=smm)

Though this news does not directly contribute chances of price hike for bitcoin, it still amazing :o. I also want to give props for Akon because of his passion in the potential of crypto. It was said that this mini paradise for crypto enthusiasts aim to get finished within 10 years, hooh that was a long run to be honest but I think that's okay. I know it will be all worth it especially that he picked Africa — a place with lesser competition. I hope this will inspire other influential people out there (Elon particularly) and also make big steps for mass adoption :).

I saw this on television last time and i think it's a great initiative on the part of Akon to be putting this whole idea of making cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment. Crypto sometimes i belief would serve to relieve most African countries from financial corruption from government officials. This is a huge development and i hope Akon has planned it through to see it happen just in case the unfortunate happen and he had to leave the project. Some people behind the scenes might take over and not see to the completion of this development.

Well the guy's done quite a lot of many communities in that african country so i think the people there are more than willing to give this venture a chance. A crypto city in africa would definitely be a big achievement as most people who doubt btc always point out that it can't be used in areas like africa due to internet inaccessibility.

Well that's a good news most especially if they will eventually encourage most of the people in Africa to use cryptocurrency and also to trade. Because we all know that the Africans are not that advance when it comes to using technology because most of them are poor or illiterate so its a big achievement for the crypto world of most of the Africans will join here.

Yes, props to the man for putting up this kind of initiative specially for Africa. It's a 10 year journey and they are taking it slowly to ensure that everything will be put into place. And maybe it can really make Africa be a hub for crypto related projects because of this. So best of luck to Akon and to his pet project.

I believed the project though not related to bitcoin is a welcome development however it is going to bring  cryptos related stuffs into limelight and massive boast to it  l am quite sure a lot of Africans has never heard about cryptocurrency, introduction of Akoin to Africa would encourage new  participation and investment in cryptos.

That's very possible to happen. I'm not actually bothered for the risk did by Akon because these kind of people which have a strong courage usually ending up successful. Like we all know, even the huge companies we know today also started from scratch. So who knows ;D.

On the other hand, I think this project will click to the Africans because I've read some articles that they are now starting to engage more with crypto (e.g BTC and ETN). Thus, I also believe that they can get used to Akoins very soon.

wow, it really impressed me. and he really had a lofty ideal that founded the city with the desire that more people use cryptocurrency and become more aware of blockchain technology. This pushes quite a lot for the crypto market in general and blockchain technology in particular, it will spread to the world if this project is successful. Besides, Akon understands that Africans really do not have the resources to trade and get rich, so only technology will save the people of Africa. This ideal is awesome!

Although I must think this is better in Altcoin discussion (because Akoin could be considered an altcoin), and though it might not have such a great impact on Bitcoin's price (a short pump at best), it would be the trendsetter and a possible generator of paradigm shift that proves those who despise cryptocurrencies that such technology could actually replace or be used as an actual currency and not just a speculative or Ponzi scheme asset.

Given also the fact that Akon is one reputable rapper, such initiative and publicity could affect people's perspective.

I wish we could get Akon to actually just adopt Bitcoin instead of doing Akoin. He'll be even more famous and probably a lot more people would actually support this. I like the guy and the idea but it feels like creating another coin for no purpose that Bitcoin can't fill. It's going to blow the whole thing down one day. Anyway, cool news!

Not all news about crypto should contribute to price hike, crypto needs adoption and acceptance from the majority and that will not be possible if we solely base our thinking on price hike only, Akon is setting an example to others to see the importance of crypto, it is not all about price, it can be use to serve a greater purpose.

I don't know how to react to that. Akoin sounds like another useless alt bound to fail. If they used Bitcoin instead, they would have got better chances of becoming popular. It's good that this person is developing the African continent, though, so I hope he succeeds. However, for now I don't really understand what this metropolis will be like, there isn't enough data about it. I will follow its development to see where is is going.

Nice idea, that will go wrong all the way.

The bad part:
First, the name...you don't name the city after you or your pseudonym.
Second, a metropolis is not 3 square miles or 8 square kilometers. For example, Disneyland Paris is 3 times that Berlin 100 times.
It's more the size of a village than a metropolis.
Third, using a brand new token because...why not use bitcoin? Oh yeah, we need an ICO!

The good part is that they actually plan on building something real, not just vaporware but again I don't understand the need to build a new village from scratch rather than using the coin/token to improve what is going wrong in the current cities.  It's not like we're going to tear apart all the old towns and all of us move to brand new crypto cities.

Let's see how this one will end:
We had a project for a bitcoin city in Nevada (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/technology/nevada-bitcoin-blockchain-society.html), one in Malaysia (https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/8969115/worlds-first-bitcoin-city/) ...

How to respond with Senegal people with bitcoin and altcoin as payment and investment assets there, they look like with bitcoin or not. Before make bitcoin and altcoin become legal in one country we must check about how most interested their citizen with bitcoin and how many population in country want to use bitcoin as legal currency payment and investing assets for the future.

wow damn is this true?i cant believe that there will be a one place that will circulate cryptocurrency only.

this means there will be no Fiat in this place?or they need to convert the fiat first to cryptocurrency before they will enjoy the place?

looking forward to have this same place here in my country.

Though in a city, but this dictates dedication towards crypto and security which is why digital cryptocurrency is favored over fiat and has set an example that someone having a lot of money can have the best use of it by making it go completely digital and helping others involved into the same and learn about crypto.

Wow, Akon has come a long way, this is a pretty massive project to tackle and seems like a noble initiative, one that gives back to his homeland in a major way! I hear that smart cities are thriving over there in within many African countries. What really makes this a positive initiative is that he's taking a big leap forward by making the cities native currency a cryptocurrency. I wonder will it be a stable-coin or just a regular plain old cryptocurrency?

Akon is paying tribute to his motherland in a great way! If you search Google, his nationality will shows as American but his parents are from a city of Senegal, called Dakar! Akon also lived in Senegal for few years during his childhood and seen the poverty very closely! Whatever he is doing, shows the great human quality in him!

But we would have been more happier in bitcoin would have used directly in his proposed city. That would raised the demand of bitcoin greatly! But nonetheless, it's a great effort by great human being. Kuddos!

He is supporting cryptocurrency and he is creating projects like this to help spread the news regarding cryptocurrency.

I know that he is a popular rapper but not all of his fans knows cryptocurrency so this project that he is creating can give his fans a glimpse of crypto and will be curious and will do some research on it if they see some benefits or good use of it. I wish that this will be a successful one :).

I hold huge respect for Akon both a singer and as an entrepreneur and most importantly as a noble human. He didn't forget where he left from - Africa and now he is trying to bring last generation tech to Africa which to my knowledge is the most under-developed continent.

Not even speak about theth awareness he's generating for the cryptocurrency space. A crypto city would attract the world's eyes to Africa and hopefully we'll see much more investments made there.

Here are a few things noteworthy on this project:

• The 2,000-acre land is a donation from the president of Senegal himself.
• There is now an existing Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between Akon and a state-owned tourism company. Both the token and the project have yet to launch, though.
• The project will cost around 2 billion USD. Akon and his project will never be able to shoulder everything. My hunch is that there must be a significant portion coming from the government or at least from a few top officials who are sitting there enriching themselves from the government coffers.

And yet Akon is saying that crypto and blockchain are good, in fact, "the savior of Africa", "because it brings the power back to the people." And that both "enables people in Africa to advance themselves independent of the government." Well, this early, the project is already indebted to the government and the person wielding the most power in the country.

I hope this project will be beneficiary to Senegal and West Africa nations. I hope Africa leaders will accept this and eventually accept the blockchain in their work processes in other to build the economy and greatly reduce fraud in governance.

Imagine, if all transactions would take place using cryptocurrency in the said crypto city, this will be the testing place for the cryptocurrency to be implemented worldwide and accepted as a unifying currency. I believe with this, upon testing, allot of regulation will be implemented, and allot of protocols should be followed, people might be confused at first but I do think with the growing technology we have, it could be easily learned and absorb by the community. The challenge will be, to test how reliable crypto is, to handle all transactions.

Things like this are possible if there's someone who really wants to make it into a real thing. And Akon is doing a great job, doing what he likes while also promoting cryptocurrency in their place. I just hope that this "Akon City" will not only benefit him from investing to his coin, but it's much better if the community, people, and even his country could benefit from what he's making. If this will make a great impact to Africa, there's a higher possibility that they can adopt crypto but if it will only benefit him, I don't know...

Lol, it’s good but kinda funny. It’s a very good idea as he is trying to promote the idea of using cryptocurrency, but it’s funny because some celebrities and influencers are now diving into cryptocurrency and instead of promoting the use of Bitcoin, they just creating their own cryptocurrencies and the way I see it they are just doing business with their followers, you can’t tell me that they are not going to benefit from people making use of their coins, of course they will make lots of profit so these are all just business. We already have lots of cryptocurrencies and most of them have ended up failing and becoming a disappointment 8).

Akon has been a light in his home country. I am all out in wishing this good soul the best of luck in this new endeavor of his.

It is clear that this one project is very ambitious. I just hope that this will not be derailed by useless red tapes and corruption issues.

And my opinion is that this crypto city will become even more successful if it will not require everything within it to be using Akoin alone. It should be open to Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies. More freedom, less limitations.

Very few people who are popular take initiative to support the people in need. Akon is one among them, because he came crossing several obstacles and he remembered from where he started his life. Already he's known well to the world, and recently supported cryptocurrency on a radio show as well as explained about the launch of his own crypto. Now a separate City that operates through his cryptocurrency is really a step ahead in advancement. Whatever he does, he does it for the people which makes him the best in all.

I thought this might have been fake or some sort of clickbait. If a rapper knows crypto is good what the hell is wrong with the rest of people? Good for Akon and being from an African country it is so nice to hear things like this are finally happening. I will keep up to date with this. How cool would it be if he ran an ICO? A bounty? Wow an actual none shitcoin. xD

I've seen villages, this initiative can probably support only a few hundred people. I'm not sure where he will get transportation links, water and electrical infrastructure from, especially electricity. Africa is known for having cities with regular power outages and those kind of things will prevent people from using cryptocurrencies (internet companies use a lot of mains power).

Developed cities already have enough trouble finding stores and merchants which accept bitcoin as a payment method, so where is he going to get a bunch of merchants from who will happily accept bitcoin, let alone an unknown cryptocurrency like Akoin?

Even if he does find stores and sellers who will do business in bitcoin, there is still the issue of wholesale suppliers. He can't just force suppliers of the stores in this city to accept Akoin. Most of them are established companies which do business with paper money. Without suppliers no goods come in and there's nothing to sell.

Then again, we're talking village size here so there probably won't be many stores in the first place.

I wonder if he is aware of these issues.

Why not ? If anything it would provide some marketing push and his name will remain in the African history books and on the blockchain


It's a proof of concept. I doubt there are vast lands with all facilities (power, water, etc) just waiting for someone to claim them, regardless of the country.


It all comes down to decentralized - scalability - secure.
I would assume they want to keep the scalability and maybe security (my guess) and needed a type of coin to fit perfectly in the future created mini-metropolis ecosystem.
Also a city need facilities like water plants, electricity, services, public institutions etc THAT WOULD ALSO USE CRYPTO! Might be better of building from scratch than move all businesses and public institutions on crypto. Maybe if they see it's better, they will follow...who knows?
Let's see if a crypto utopia is feasible! I really hope so

That's a piece of good news for the cryptocurrency system so far in this new year, I think it doesn't add or increase the value of Bitcoin but this type of initiative attracts the new investors to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, It's an awesome project that a huge land will be used for this purpose and for the long run it will bring something special for sure both Akon and Cryptocurrency world, I Hope many celebrities will follow the footstep of Akon and in this way, Cryptocurrency will get credible and acceptable to the people, Obviously it will influence people to do more thing regarding this platform for the long run purpose.

A huge salute for Akon for being a big supporter of crypto currency.
This rapper has been one of the early celebrity that have shown  it's strong support on crypto and now he is making a huge move to promote a crypto city,
Good luck and I hope it would go well.