Coinbase has conducted discussions with Mpesa parent company Safaricom over enhancing the dominant mobile money service with blockchain.
This was revealed by Mr. Jesse Pollak who spoke with a local media outlet following a visit to the East African country during a buildathon event dubbed Based Africa.
Pollak, who is recognized as the Creator of the Base blockchain and also an Executive at Coinbase, said that the crypto company is in ongoing talks with Safaricom to explore the possibility of enhancing M-PESA with blockchain technology.
[TECH] Safaricom Bonga Points – A Case for a New Digital Currency in Kenya?: OPINION DAVID A few days ago, we published a post on the wide usage of Bonga Points as payment and we classfied this as a new d.. https://t.co/MhSznoZYND via @BitcoinKE
— Top Kenyan Blogs (@Blogs_Kenya) April 17, 2020
Pollak spoke at a Coinbase event in the Kenyan capital Nairobi attended by hundreds of Kenyan developers that are building on Base.
“The adoption of crypto is happening in East Africa and across the African continent faster than basically anywhere else in the world.
We’re seeing the most excitement and adoption in Kenya and then Nigeria,” Jesse Pollak, the Creator of Base and a Senior Executive at Coinbase, said in an interview.
Coinbase also did a segment with local tv station, Citizen, broadcasting to millions of homes:
This segment was just broadcast to 8,000,000 homes in Kenya this week featuring @jessepollak and based builder @ChrisKinya.
It’s time to bring the world onchain. pic.twitter.com/cc5jSLIFgk
— aneri.base.eth (@0xAneri) November 16, 2024
At the event, Pollak also reportedly announced support for a domestically-produced Kenya shilling stablecoin.
He revealed that Coinbase is taking steps to promote the education and development of Kenyan developers such as engaging with universities to explore the integration of blockchain technology into their curricula.
Since at least 2019, Coinbase has operated in Kenya through its international entities, though it maintained a minimal local presence via contractors. This presence however was scaled back in 2022 and 2023 due to uncertainties around regulatory frameworks.
US Regulator Sues Coinbase for Allegedly Violating Securities Regulations
The lawsuit filed against Coinbase claims that the company has been functioning as an unregistered security broker starting from 2019, which is approximately two years prior to its initial public offering… pic.twitter.com/niEaQgj4UP
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) June 8, 2023
Coinbase however announced a recent partnership with YellowCard, a leading African crypto on-andoff-ramp, which enables Africans and Kenyans to get access to the USDC stablecoin via Coinbase.
[TECH] PARTNERSHIP | Coinbase to Sell USDC Across Africa in Collaboration with YellowCard: Coinbase, the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, has revealed plans to broaden access to its products in 20 African count.. https://t.co/n5x4fsfK56 via @BitcoinKE
— Top Kenyan Blogs (@Blogs_Kenya) January 16, 2024
However, Mr Pollak said the Kenyan government has shown increasing willingness to ‘lean in’ to crypto, and he felt there was a positive reception from the government over Base’s visit to Nairobi.
“We welcome regulatory clarity and are pleased to see progress in this space in Kenya. I’m really optimistic about the opportunity for [blockchain] innovation to drive meaningful change in communities across the region, and equally for great applications for the world to be built by Kenyan entrepreneurs,” said Mr Pollak.
