When during a trip from Dakar to Paris a few years ago, Grammy Award-nominated singer Akon tried to convert some of Senegal 's currency to euros, he was met with resistance. He was told by an employee at France's currency exchange counter, "Unfortunately we don't take those." Singer Akon Starts a Cryptocurrency, Building crypto driven Senegal City "I'm just like, 'What? "Akon recalled in a recent Bloomberg News phone interview. Before leaving for his tour, he had not had time to convert one currency to another, so he was left with a pocket of CFA francs — the currency used in many West African countries, like Senegal — with nowhere to spend them. "That just really opened my eyes," Akon, 47, said in the interview. "That really catapulted the energy to say 'We have our own currency to have. I don't mind what it takes — we'll fix this.'" The encounter served as a catalyst for one of its newest ventures, Akoin, a cryptocurrency that will also be Akon City's local currency, a 2,000-acre development in Senegal. Although some other coins have promised but failed to update the fiat currency system, the hope is that Akoin will be adopted across the continent and beyond, with a launch likely to occur in early July, according to Jon Karas, Akoin 's president, and co-founder. https://theblockchaincafe.com/reliance-receives-first-lc-payment-from-india-via-blockchain/ The Read the full article