Cryptocurrencies are Crashing, But Microtraction is Betting on Bitkoin Africa to Succeed

Microtraction, an early-stage startup investor, just announced an undisclosed round of funding in Bitkoin Africa, an up and coming cryptocurrency trading platform.

Launched at the height of bitcoinmania in 2017, Bitkoin Africa is one of Nigeria’s trusted crypto trading platforms. The platform launched in October of that year after 4 months of testing. With a $65,000 startup investment war chest, Microtraction has been on the lookout for innovative Nigerian companies.

I’m thrilled to announce @microtraction’s investment in @bitkoinafrica. @ireaderinokun & @timigod are two of Africa’s top developers and are on a mission to make it easier and more secure for Africans to invest and trade cryptocurrencies https://t.co/yFaU0Wbu51

— Yele Bademosi (@YeleBademosi) June 27, 2018

“Our investment in Bitkoin Africa is the true definition of microtraction. I believe when a good opportunity, in this case, a large, fast-growing market, meets a good entrepreneur, great things happen,” said Yele Bademosi, Managing Partner Microtraction.

Bitkoin Africa offers users a secure platform to trade crypto assets such as Bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin. It joined the pool of NairaEx and Remitano as platforms with full support for Nigerian crypto traders.

Also worth noting is that the startup is led by two Nigerian developers: Timi Ajiboye and Ire Aderinokun. Both are reputable Nigerian developers, and these made Bitkoin Africa very interesting to the Nigerian tech community and beyond.

According to Bademosi, a company like Bitkoin Africa needs founders that have the technical expertise to develop the technology required to build a crypto-fiat gateway and exchange. Ire and Timi are not only highly technical, they are competent founders who fit this description.

Is Cryptotrading Still a Viable Investment Choice for Microtraction?

A lot has happened over the last several months in the cryptocurrency industry. Bitcoin, the largest crytopcurrency, has declined in value extremely. After its value nearly reached $20,000, the currency has since lost so much value. It now trades at less than $10,000. All its media hype suddenly vanished and its volatility has pushed governments to seek multiple ways to regulate crypto trading.

With these issues, it’s surprising to see that any investor, especially a Nigerian one, would still invest in a cryptocurrency company.

On its part, Microtraction has admitted this risk but the VC is confident Bitkoin Africa can play other roles beyond crytotrading.

It’s been an exciting 6 months with the team so far, lots of ups and downs with numerous challenges but the @bitkoinafrica team have what it takes to make this vision a reality!

— Yele Bademosi (@YeleBademosi) June 27, 2018

This investment is about convexity, that is, we have limited downside and unlimited upside. The downside is the total loss of our investment capital but the upside is being able to play a role in helping build a company that democratiZes not just access to cryptocurrencies.

Bitkoin Africa clearly has lofty goals and with the company being led by developers and not business people per se, that orientation would play a real role here. However, it will be interesting to see how the startup innovates going forward.