Paxful Announces Strategic Partnership with BitLipa

The collaboration enables faster and easier payments across Africa while curbing the high costs of traditional money operators.

Global peer-to-peer (P2P) Crypto marketplace, Paxful, has joined forces with BitLipa, a Kenyan borderless peer-to-peer remittance network, expanding their variety of over 300 payment methods on the platform. Paxful and BitLipa work towards the common goal of financial inclusivity and bringing hands-on financial solutions to the people.

Acting as a fiat on-ramp to the Paxful platform, BitLipa users can now buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) with direct deposits from the BitLipa app. The collaboration also gives users a secure and speedy transaction infrastructure thus providing faster and easier payments across Africa and abroad, while curbing the high costs of traditional money operators. Both companies pride themselves in a secure and efficient tech stack, timely dispute settlement, and 24-7 customer support. 

Ray Youssef, CEO, and co-founder of Paxful said: “We are proud to partner with BitLipa as we share the same vision and passion for the crypto economy in Africa. We hope to open new opportunities for our users, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when financial confidence is most needed. We will continue to make crypto more accessible as a real-world payment method.”

Currently, BitLipa is spearheading expansion plans to scale up in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ghana. The peer-to-peer remittance network aims to integrate all of Africa and Middle East mobile money networks by mid next year.

Apollo Omer, CEO, and co-founder of BitLipa said: “Through the partnership, we are focused on reaching an estimated 60% of the African population that is unbanked, and equipping them with the right financial tools. I see Bitcoin as a medium of exchange and a sound investment asset, and this partnership gives mobile money users across Africa access to the greatest financial revolution of our time. We’re thrilled to have Paxful onboard with us in  providing more fiat-to-crypto options to our users.”

Currently,  the majority of Kenyans use Bitlipa as the primary access to Bitcoin, which they then sell on Paxful at a higher margin. At present, 45 percent of the active users of Paxful are from Africa, demonstrating the platform’s success on the continent. In Kenya, Paxful trade volumes are significantly higher than usual, reaching over 108 million KES in trading volume in November 2020, highlighting the appetite for crypto in the country; Kenya’s crypto space is approaching new heights.