MARA, launched yesterday and announced $23 million in funding from Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research (FTX), Distributed Global, TQ Ventures, DIGITAL, and other crypto investors.
MARA announced a partnership with Central African Republic to advise the President on crypto strategy. MARA also became an official crypto partner and will work with the Central African Republic to legalise and promote Bitcoin.
MARA’s arrival comes at a critical time in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is challenging to create growth and development, because of political and economic instability, to devaluation of currency in the region. Low interest rates lead to higher food prices, as well as a need for new decentralized financial systems.
MARA’s mission is to provide economic access for the African population with cutting-edge technologies such as cryptocurrency. Compared to other countries, there are various challenges Africans face before adopting cryptocurrencies.
A lack of regulations in this region creates a barrier of entry to the markets.
MARA’s suite of products addresses crypto-finance needs in Africa, complying with regulations and building for the African audience. MARA includes the MARA wallet, pro-exchange and MARA chain, a layer-1 blockchain, that gives developers a space to build decentralized applications shaping the future of the African crypto economy.
The MARA executive team is led by Chi Nnadi and Lucas Llinás Múnera, and board advisors Kojo Annan and Tatiana Koffman.
MARA’s mission is to create equality among the world, they hope to provide a decentralized alternative that spans across tribes and cultures. One of their goals is to close the gap in opportunities for Sub-Saharan individuals and establish an infrastructure that can give them a better life.
MARA’s service is more accessible because it is localized to Africa and complies with global standards.
Schuster Tanger of TQ Ventures, a venture capital firm, is pleased to partner with MARA who is going to work on digital financial systems for sub-Saharan Africa. He mentions that there are promising opportunities for mass adoption of cryptocurrency in this region, especially with the skills and knowledge from the MARA team.
MARA will launch in Kenya, Nigeria, and surrounding regions. MARA’s wallet app will be available in Apple and Google Play stores pre-registered users will join a queue to enable early access. Users that refer their friends can jump up the queue while they earn crypto rewards along the way. The MARA wallet will allow users to invest in cryptocurrencies and send money to family members in real time, without processing times or delays.
