Grammy-nominated hip hop artist Akon has been working on his crypto project called Akoin. The idea is that the Akoin token would be used by entrepreneurs to build their businesses in the pretty much the same manner as all other crypto tokens are used. What makes the Akon crypto project different is his plan to use to build a $6 billion city in Senegal.
Akon’s Own Crypto Wakanda
The rapper expressed his plan for creating his own cryptocurrency in 2018. He believed it could help push the economy of Africa forward, calling the crypto technology “the savior of Africa”.
Two years later, his project is pretty much alive. However, Akon’s ambitions have grown over time. He wants to take it a step further and build an Akon crypto city in Senegal, which he refers to as “real-life Wakanda”
And Akon says he’s also planning to build a “crypto city” in Senegal which he calls “a real-life Wakanda”.
Just like the fictional Wakanda from Marvel’s Black Panther, Akon’s real-life Wakanda would be a futuristic land with his cryptocurrency in the center of transactional life. The plan is that the Akoin token would be the main currency used by the businesses in the city.
The crypto-utopian city might not seem easily achievable, but according to the Akoin website, the location of the city has already been decided.
The story goes that Akon was gifted 2,000-acres of land, a few miles away from the Senegal capital Dakar. Apparently, the land was given to the rapper by the president of Senegal.
Rappers Getting on the Crypto Bandwagon
With Akoin, Akon has joined a long list of rappers involved in the cryptocurrency game. In fact, hip hop artists like Snoop Dogg and Donald Glover were among the first celebrities to publicly discuss bitcoin.
Nas, however, the first rapper to get properly involved with the idea of cryptocurrencies. In 2014, he co-hosted a crypto panel with entrepreneur Ben Horowitz, which was the first step in creating BlockCypher, a platform meant to help bitcoin developers.
That’s about the same time when 50 Cent earned about 700 coins from his 2014 album Animal Ambition, which made him the rap’s first crypto millionaire.
In recent times, many rappers have launched their own crypto tokens. For instance, Ghostface Killah from Wu-Tang Clan launched the token CREAM, in homage to one of the group’s most popular songs.
Many hip hop artists also got involved in the crypto business by becoming brand ambassadors of crypto tokens, some of which turned out to be scams, like the scam ICO promoted by DJ Khaled in 2018.
Akon’s token, however, seems to be 100% legit. There’s probably nothing fishy going on there, the only worry crypto enthusiasts have about this project is whether it’s too ambitious.
