Looking for to help to set up an exchanger in Africa. Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe to be specific.
Donors needed, as well as volunteers to help manage the project.
Background to my quest. I use eCurrency quite alot. Payoneer, Skrill, Neteller, and WebMoney. I use them to avoid and cut down on forex transacting costs in my country Zambia. I also use online exchangers to move funds between my eCurrency accounts.
One day I needed to buy Bitcoin for an online purchase, and that's when I discovered how hard it is to buy Bitcoin where I am. The mainstream exchanges do not sell to people in most of Africa. Exchanges which do sell in Africa (my part of Africa) have exhorbitant markups.
I know Bitcoin has volatility and a factor of risk, but the price we pay for Bitcoin here is way above market price. This means if you buy Bitcoin, you are forced to incur a loss if you need to sell it or convert to fiat currency.
Right now Bitcoin price of Bitcoin is $4,046.53 internationally, and $5,257.94 at the only exchange available to us here. Buying at a $1,200 premium makes zero economic sense. This is what leads to an extremely low cryptocurrency uptake.
Converting Bitcoin to fiat currency is extremely easy using either Skrill or Neteller. But only makes sense if you buy your Bitcoin at near market prices.
To remedy this, I am setting up an exchanger site for eCurrency, mobile money, local bank transfer. The aim is to allow Africans to buy or sell Bitcoin using means available to them-- Skrill, Neteller, WebMoney, Payoneer, Mpesa, MTN Money, Airtel Money, Rapid Transfer and a whole host of other African payment options. And to buy and sell at profit markups of minimum 6% to maximum 15%.
There will need to be a profit markup for the simple reason that the aim is not to kill existing exchanges, but to try and bring sanity in the pricing and give an alternative to buyers and sellers.
In a nutshell, contributions are needed to setup an exchange that has sufficient liquidity to meet the needs of buyers and sellers in Africa. Setting up requires having some liquidity in a number of eCurrency platforms across 4 (four) countries, and BRING DOWN THE COST OF BITCOIN TO NORMAL OR NEAR NORMAL LEVELS.
It will be possible to check on the exchanger site that the margins and pricings are kept at sane levels and also that the goals are achieved.
I think this post deserve service discussion section. Once you publish the exchanger, you should post on service announcement section.
