Digital currency hub, incubator launch this week in Cape Town

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Landmark was the first company in South Africa that accepted bitcoin as a payment method, both online and in store. Landmark is trading the largest volumes in bitcoin currently in South Africa and van der Nest has been an advocate of bitcoin as early as 2009. He is also in the process of setting up the bitcoin Foundation in order to train and standardise the industry.

PayFast is currently the only payment processing company that accepts bitcoin in South Africa. Takealot is the largest online retailer accepting bitcoin in South Africa and PayFast enables this.

"BitHub will be the physical space where coders, designers and developers can meet, work out of and collaborate. There are many viable digital currency ideas in South Africa that are not coming to market because they lack the infrastructure and support to take it further. BitHub is that space," explains Ian Merrington, CEO of CiTi.

"In South Africa, we are faced with different challenges from the rest of the world," says Sonya Kuhnel, organiser of the recent bitcoin Africa Conference and collaborator in the BitHub launch. "Understanding our market is as important as the technology behind it. BitHub will guide and mentor entrepreneurs whilst they develop and shape their bitcoin businesses to fit our unique market needs."

"We believe that fintech innovation is going to be the cause of considerable disruption to the traditional banking model in Africa," continues Merrington. "We particularly believe that innovation within fintech has the ability to dramatically reduce transactional fees and lower barriers and the cost of remittance. The decentralised Block Chain technology also has huge transformative potential. Reducing corruption is one potential application that comes to mind."

Kuhnel agrees, "The large unbanked sector and massive remittance industry in South Africa and Africa represents massive opportunities for innovation and business development, especially regarding bitcoin development, which has the potential to lower transaction fees. This presents a viable solution to a real problem."

Topics

1. Education of digital currencies - Most people and corporates are cautious, if not unaware, of this form of currency. Offering education on how viable this is in the real world will resolve that.
2. Understanding the regulation of this space - Digital currency is not regulated by the Reserve Bank or any legislative control. What opportunities does that present to industry and commerce at large?
3. Fostering general acceptance from industry leaders - Demonstrating how viable this currency is in real-time trade through industry leaders sharing their experience with digital currency will hopefully help others take steps in the same direction.

To attend the free event, book online here.