Pre-proposal: Integrating Dash in African Exchange

How would you vote for this proposal

  • Total voters
    11
  • Poll closed .
Tawanda Kembo

Tawanda Kembo

New member
This project idea was first mentioned on this thread: https://www.dash.org/forum/threads/pre-proposal-integrating-dash-into-exchange-in-africa.14854/


Proposal Name:
Integrating Dash in African Exchange

Short Description:
https://bitocinfundi.com, a Zimbabwe based exchange has bitcoin as the only cryptocurrency on it right now. Bitcoin miner fees have become too high, confirmations are taking forever and there is not enough bitcoin liquidity meet the local demand for bitcoin. We are going to Dash (a better alternative) but we need support from the Dash community.

Cost:
Month 1: (July 2017): 111Dash
Month 2: (August 2017): 3 Dash
Month 3: (September 2017): 63 Dash
Total cost: 177 Dash

Duration:
3 months

About me:
I got involved in cryptocurrency through bitcoin in 2012 and now run a bitcoin exchange in Zimbabwe called BitcoinFundi. We are one of the few bitcoin exchanges in Africa and have been live since September 2015.

About my project:
We're seeing real use cases for cryptocurrency here in Africa (Zimbabwe specifically). Individuals and companies are actually using bitcoin to make cross-border payments and send remittances in ways they couldn't before. To give an example, capital controls in Zimbabwe (as in many African countries) have made it difficult to send money outside the country so a lot of people couldn't get into certain types of businesses because of the challenges involved in paying suppliers abroad.
Our solution (which is built on bitcoin), works today, however, we have a few challenges that have pushed us to consider integrating Dash. These are:
  1. Liquidity - there is not enough bitcoin in circulation in Africa to meet the local demand for cryptocurrency.
  2. Arbitrage - The price of bitcoin is almost always significantly higher in Africa than it is in other parts of the world.
  3. The bid-ask spread is always high because of the liquidity situation. it's also very difficult to buy bitcoin instantly.
  4. High transaction fees and long confirmation times are making bitcoin less and less attractive are ruining the user experience for cryptocurrency users who only know bitcoin.
Our solution to this problem is adding dash as a second cryptocurrency on our exchange, BitcoinFundi. We are confident this will help the cryptocurrency ecosystem and dash get a foothold in the African market for a few reasons:
  1. People will get access to an alternative cryptocurrency that is faster and cheaper and (if this works) is more readily accessible.
  2. Having a cryptocurrency pair also increases the volume and liquidity because it allows people outside Africa to also trade on the platform. If the only currency pairs are bitcoin and local fiat currencies then only people in Africa will trade because people outside Africa cannot easily get access to local fiat currencies. To give an example: someone outside Africa, who wants to help with liquidity there, can market make on our exchange on the bitcoin/Dash currency pair - knowing that whichever whichever of the two currencies they make their profit in, they can always take it out.
Project Requirements:
  1. Help and support form Dash tech community as we do the integration.
  2. Financial assistance in terms of a float for market making to provide the initial liquidity for this currency to take off.
  3. Financial assistance for marketing and awareness.
  4. Promotional materials - logos, t-shirt designs, flyer designs, etc.
Progress milestones:
  1. DASH/USD, DASH/BTC and DASH/ZAR currency pairs added to BitcoinFundi - deadline: 31 August 2017
  2. First sponsored article on TechZim to make the announcement - deadline: 1 September 2017
  3. Production of explainer video in local language - deadline: 1 September 2017
  4. Sponsor 3 episodes of video podcast - deadlines: 1 September 2017, 31 September 2017 and 30 October 2017
  5. Exhibition and launch and local fintech event - deadline: 30 September 2017.

Deliverable:
The USD equivalent of the 30 Day Trailing volume of Dash that is traded on BitcoinFundi should equal or exceed the USD equivalent of bitcoin's 30 Day Trailing Volume at the end of the project period.

Why we need the funding:
We shall self fund the development and integration on Dash into BitcoinFundi but Dash to take off, we need financial assistance in the following areas:
  1. A float for Market Making - The bulk of the funding will go towards providing liquidity for the initial customers who will visit the exchange to buy/sell Dash. Market making is important firstly to make sure that early customers can get their order filled quickly and secondly to shorten the bid-ask spread - which will likely be wide for new currency pairs.
  2. Marketing and awareness - The demand for bitcoin on BitcoinFundi right now far exceeds the supply. The goal of this awareness campaign to let people know that bitcoin is no longer the only player in the game and to help them understand that Dash is a good alternative that they can start using today. Awareness will be focused on the 2 channels that have been most effective in BitcoinFundi's customer acquisition - sponsored blog and video posts and events.
Further Reading:
  1. Blog post by one of our customers on how they use bitcoin to send remittances to Zimbabwe: http://www.techzim.co.zw/2016/11/save-money-using-bitcoin-send-money-zimbabwe/
  2. Blog by me on how we use bitcoin help locals import cars: https://blog.bitcoinfundi.com/how-we-are-helping-our-customers-buy-cars-from-beforward-b41f25c5fc92
  3. Blog post by me on how low cryptocurrency liquidity in Africa affects price negatively and what the possible solutions are: https://blog.bitcoinfundi.com/why-t...han-it-is-on-other-international-56bd85db1445
  4. Detailed budget for this project: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kdXxUOUMw2nOYZYmPybShYdS9OXM8iQtZMvjzzg7cbU/edit?usp=sharing
  5. Spreadsheet with my exchanges growth metrics since going live: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UXpa01CmOgiF8S8AwwzOGBNWLGSbmHr6E7yCd-dYwHE/edit?usp=sharing
  6. Slide Deck with more information about our company (and the use cases for cryptocurrency): https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10FyTJTpmtOA4hZu6_l2zE15kiyTWBCzMhfLRj90dRy8/edit?usp=sharing
  7. A link to our trading history (@DashingDude thinks that @Biltong will want to see it): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByG7Lr1QL_6sQmsyTUZ5Q0p0S3M/view?usp=sharing

Link to Detailed Doc: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByG7Lr1QL_6sZjhUZzkzV2VMRUU/view?usp=sharing
 
Last edited:
I can't think of many better uses for the budget than to be the first Dash on an African exchange, and for cheap too. You have my votes.
One question that is probably stupid because you already transfer value across nation-state borders: is there any concern with the authoritays coming after you? Finally, it looks like you put a lot of effort into this proposal - thanks for that.
 
MrGold said:
I can't think of many better uses for the budget than to be the first Dash on an African exchange, and for cheap too. You have my votes.
One question that is probably stupid because you already transfer value across nation-state borders: is there any concern with the authoritays coming after you? Finally, it looks like you put a lot of effort into this proposal - thanks for that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the support.
 
It might not be the highest ROI, but I've been lurking on the other thread and am generally satisfied with your answers and what you're trying to accomplish. You will have my support
 
@Tawanda Kembo

I spotted some very minor typos and grammatical errors in your well written document. Perhaps you should ask a friend to proof-read it for you? I'd do so, if I were you, to make my document appear as professional as possible.

I'm not criticizing you, don't worry! Just making a suggestion that you can take or leave, as you wish.

Cheers!
 
DashingDude said:
@Tawanda Kembo

I spotted some very minor typos and grammatical errors in your well written document. Perhaps you should ask a friend to proof-read it for you? I'd do so, if I were you, to make my document appear as professional as possible.

I'm not criticizing you, don't worry! Just making a suggestion that you can take or leave, as you wish.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Thanks for picking these up @DashingDude
I'll spend the weekend going over it to make sure everything is perfect.
 
As an African I think Bitcoin as it stands is not workable for Africa. But Dash is a Godsend.

I have seen the work you guys have done in Zimbabwe even with handling your country's Reserve bank.

What you are doing is going to pave a way for Dash adoption across the continent of Africa.

A big Yes from me.

Godspeed.
 
Futurenow said:
As an African I think Bitcoin as it stands is not workable for Africa. But Dash is a Godsend.

I have seen the work you guys have done in Zimbabwe even with handling your country's Reserve bank.

What you are doing is going to pave a way for Dash adoption across the continent of Africa.

A big Yes from me.

Godspeed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the support @Futurenow
Which country are you from?
 
Hi again @Tawanda Kembo

I hope that you don't hate me for what I am about to say. I assure you that my motives are positive!!

Once you reach the proposal stage, it is likely that @Biltong from the PEC will want to ask you some "due-dilligence" questions, such as: What is your trading history? Can you provide us with some volume figures (verifiable on the blockchain?) And can you tell us, for how long has your exchange been in business?

These sort of questions will be asked of you anyhow if this proposal moves forward. Can you give us some data?

BTW, I would like to see your proposal funded. I'm really not meaning to sound like a troll!

Cheers!
 
DashingDude said:
Hi again @Tawanda Kembo

I hope that you don't hate me for what I am about to say. I assure you that my motives are positive!!

Once you reach the proposal stage, it is likely that @Biltong from the PEC will want to ask you some "due-dilligence" questions, such as: What is your trading history? Can you provide us with some volume figures (verifiable on the blockchain?) And can you tell us, for how long has your exchange been in business?

These sort of questions will be asked of you anyhow if this proposal moves forward. Can you give us some data?

BTW, I would like to see your proposal funded. I'm really not meaning to sound like a troll!

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Hi @DashingDude sorry I missed this message. Let me export our trade history to a spreadsheet and update my post to include that. Give me a few minutes
 
Thanks @Tawanda Kembo

We're all newbies here, so you don't need loads of history. Just a little bit of credibility. And judging by your response, you do have some. Thanks.

I'd like to see more exchanges in Africa supporting Dash. Although I am in South Africa, perhaps we could work together somehow to promote the adoption of Dash? One of the big issues that we face here, is the high cost of sending money home for ex-expatriates. Money-transfers. Many are Zimbos.

If maybe we could handle the SA side and you could handle Zim side it might make some sense?

I'm going to stop now, as we shouldn't speak on a public forum.

Cheers!
 
Hello All,

Although I don't have much to update you on in terms of new developments, I'm just writing to let everyone know that we're still working on this and that because we think this proposal is going to pass, we've started preparing working towards integrating Dash into our exchange.
 
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