Akon Is Launching His Own Cryptocurrency Called “Akoin” to be Spent at "Akon Crypto City"

Honestly, we’re just annoyed we didn’t think of this first.

If we had to guess which early 2000s rapper was going to launch their own pun-based cryptocurrency, we probably would have gone with Chingy (because his name kinda sounds like the noise when you collect coins in Super Mario Bros) or T-Pain (because T-Pain almost rhymes with “blockchain”).

But Akon has beaten both of them to the punch, announcing today that he will launch his own cryptocurrency in just two weeks. And, yes, it’s called Akoin.

Akon, aka Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, made the announcement at Cannes Lion, which is a "festival of creativity" separate to the more famous Cannes Film Festival.

According to Page Six, the Senegalese singer hopes Akoin will help Africa by "[bringing] the power back to the people", allowing its people to "utilise it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow government to do those things that are keeping them down."

(He is working to bring solar power to Africa with his Lighting Africa project too.)

You may or may not be surprised to learn, however, that Akon doesn’t have all the answers to the technological questions on your mind, telling reporters: "I come with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out."

Same.

Akoin already has a website, which explains that it’s being created to "empower youth entrepreneurship and economic inclusion through an exclusive suite of sustainability".

The website also casually explains that Akon Crypto City—a whole city—is being developed on 2,000 acres of land that has been gifted to Akon from the President of Senegal, and will be at the center of “transactional life”.

Guess Akon won’t ever be lonely again.

Photo: Instagram (akon)