One of the Smallest Countries in Africa is Becoming a Leading Crypto Hub

It may be surprising to hear but one of the smallest countries in Africa houses a number of leading crypto companies. Seychelles, an archipelago country in the Indian Ocean off East Africa, has established itself as a crypto hub attracting large crypto startups.

In this article, you will learn about the crypto companies that are based in Seychelles and why they have chosen this small African country.

BitMEX

HDR Global Trading Limited owns and operates the crypto exchange BitMEX. The margin trading platform has a 24-hour trading volume of about $3.2 billion, according to Coingecko.

In August 2019, BitMEX announced that will limit access to its platform in Seychelles, Bermuda, and Hong Kong. The exchange has limited access in countries where the offices and workers of HDR Global are located. This decision is part of a bigger plan to increase transparency and help third parties to understand the reasoning behind its platform’s features. BitMEX has been accused of allegedly allowing traders to take on too much risk, money laundering, and “siphoning customers’ savings into a liquidation fund.”

Ben Delo, Samuel Reed, and Arthur Hayes founded BitMEX in 2014.

CoinFLEX

CoinFLEX is a cryptocurrency futures and lending exchange registered in the smallest country in Africa under the company Liquid Technologies Limited. The trading platform launched in 2019.

The exchange claims to physically deliver cryptocurrency futures eliminating cash price settlement manipulation risk. In August 2019, CoinFLEX secured $10 million in funding from bitcoin cash advocate Roger Ver, Divergence Digital Currency, Polychain Capital, and NGC Ventures.

The founders of CoinFLEX are Mark Lamb and Sudhu Arumugam.

Bitpie

Bitpie is a multi-chain wallet for both Android and iOS users. The company behind the wallet has been registered in Seychelles since 2015. Users can manage their assets using Bitpie. They can also trade digital assets in the built-in exchange and OTC.

The founder of the crypto startup is Wen Hao.

Binance JEX

Binance JEX is a bitcoin futures and options trading platform. The company came about after Binance acquired derivatives exchange JEX in September 2019. Binance is the fifth largest crypto exchange by 24-hour trading volume, according to Coinmarketcap.

The JEX team is now under the auspices of Binance, which was founded by Changpeng Zhao and Yi He in 2017. Additionally, The exchange behemoth also held a JEX token airdrop to all BNB holders.

MERJ Exchange

MERJ Exchange is part of the licensed national securities exchange in Seychelles. The security token exchange launched the first tokenised initial public offering (IPO) in September 2019. In August 2019, the platform listed the first regulated security token on a national exchange. MERJ had announced this listing plan a month earlier in June.

The tokenised IPO operates on the Ethereum blockchain and was conducted in partnership with Globacap, Prime Trust, and Jumpstart.

Why Seychelles?

Despite being one of the smallest countries in Africa, Seychelles has created an attractive business environment for international companies. The country offers international companies lenient tax requirements, sound asset protection, and few requirements to set up.

Crypto companies are taking advantage of these benefits. The availability of a license for crypto exchanges and the ability to register through an offshore company are clear selling points.