Paxful has unveiled plans to expand its business in the Kenya and East Africa the company envisions its move to facilitate financial inclusion in Africa.
The company is a leading global peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace, and has been noted to drive financial inclusion to the unbanked and underbanked across Africa.
With avast tech in the Kenya having anchored mostly on digital banking with availability of digital money transfer platforms like M-Pesa, Bank Transfer and PayPal, Paxful enables users to purchase Bitcoin with each other using such different payment methods
It was established in 2015, and is one of the world’s largest peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplaces, with more than 2 million users globally and an average weekly trading volume of over US$20 million.
As the most popular digital asset, bitcoin is fast becoming more mainstream in everyday lifestyle and business transactions.
According to Ray Youssef, Chief Executive Officer, and co-founder of Paxful, the platforms key interest is to ensure financial inclusion is felt in the whole of Africa, and will provide knowledge to people to help them understand the need of digital currency
“Bitcoin is helping individuals have access to global financial services and participate in a new financial system where traditional banking is no longer required. Customers can pay for items that are in foreign markets such as China, Europe or the US using bitcoin. It is for this reason that Paxful gives priority to providing education and awareness on bitcoin and the opportunities it provides.” Said Youssef
Through its operations in Kenya, Paxful aims to partner with innovation centers, learning institutions and other stakeholders in Kenya and across the region to educate the public on bitcoin and peer-to-peer finance.
“During the first half of 2019, Paxful’s new users in Kenya more than doubled and our number of trades increased by 400 percent compared to the same period last year. We have also recorded a marked increase in bitcoin trading in other East African markets and are therefore optimistic about our prospects in this region, as we plan to further deepen our presence”, added Youssef.
At present, 45 percent of the active users of Paxful are from Africa. Paxful trade volumes in Kenya shillings (KES) are significantly higher than usual reaching Sh14 million traded in July 2019
