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Singer wants to create own coin and establish ‘Сrypto Wakanda’

28 June 2018 21:00, UTC

A new cryptocurrency has been recently announced by R&B celebrity Akon (Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam), who wants to launch his own ‘Akoin’. The official project website tells about the usefulness of the coin in rather vague terms, although it is clear that helping young entrepreneurs of Africa is one of the goals.

Reports tell about 2000-acre land allegedly given to Akon by the President of Senegal to establish a crypto city close both to the international airport and Dakar, the capital of the country. The information about this is also provided on ICO Impact Group website. As far as one can see from the recent news, President Macky Sall or officials close to him did not confirm the information. In the social media, the city is being compared to the fictional technologically advanced African country of Wakanda from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While this all looks as an obvious attempt of promotion, Akon has a successful experience in financing electricity projects to help African cities with street lighting. Akon Lighting Africa has received a good appraisal from the United Nations.

The cryptocurrency community has met the news with jokes and skepticism, with some pointing out that the U.S. SEC would not be happy to hear about this. Indeed, the Securities and Exchange Commission has previously noted that token celebrity promotion resembles unregistered security brokerage. Rapper fans, on the contrary, supported the endeavor.

Image: Getty Images