Coinspeaker Bitcoin Lightning Network Enables Instant Fiat Transfers between Africa and Europe
On Monday, December 12, Bitnob and CoinCorner announced a new partnership to offer instant fiat transfers between Europe and Africa by leveraging Bitcoin Layer-2 scalability platform Lightning Network.
Bitcoin Lightning Network to Facilitate Fiat Transfers
As a result, the CoinCorner users will use the “Send Globally” feature to transfer fiat currencies such as British pounds (GBP) or Euros (EUR) instantly to African countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Africa-based Bitcoin app Bitnob is playing a vital role by helping Africa connect with the rest of the world. At the same time, it is making Africa a focal point in crypto adoption. By using Bitnob’s “Send Globally” features, users from Europe can send EUR and GBP to recipients in Africa. This then gets automatically converted into the Nigerian naira (NGN), Kenyan shilling (KES) or Ghanaian cedi (GHS).
However, funds sent using “Send Globally” first get converted into Bitcoin (BTC) and then further transferred via the Lightning Network. Once Bitnob receives the funds, it immediately converts them into local currency and deposits them into the recipient’s designated account.
As per the announcement from CoinCorner, the yearly remittance from the UK and Europe to Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, is approximately £12 billion. Speaking on the development, Danny Scott, CoinCorner CEO said:
“The borderless nature of Bitcoin has always made it a great tool for sending money around the world, but now with the Lightning Network, sending Bitcoin is instant and very low cost. By partnering with Bitnob to provide a seamless cross-border experience using Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, we hope to remove some of the friction and cost that customers experience when using traditional FX and money remittance companies.”
Liberating the Sub-Shara Africa
Bernard Parah, the CEO of Bitnob said that the sub-Sahara region has been one of the most expensive regions in the world to send money to. It costs a massive 8.2% to conduct any transactions in this region.
On the other hand, Nigeria still ranks among the top ten countries to conduct remittance payments. made up 14.1% of global remittances in 2021. This new provision from Bitnob will help to bring low-cost transfers to Sub-Sahara Africa while liberating the region financially.
“For us at Bitnob, this is another leap forward in economic empowerment for Africans. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region to send money to, where sending $200 costs an average of 8.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 according to the World Bank. Bitcoin is powering the future of money and this partnership highlights a strong use case of what the future will look like,” added Parah.
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Bitcoin Lightning Network Enables Instant Fiat Transfers between Africa and Europe
