Blockchain-based platform Bitukun Labs plans to launch its decentralized finance (DeFi) services, offering products for individuals seeking to save, invest, and potentially win prizes.

The process involves users depositing their cryptocurrencies into staking pools over a period of time to participate in the transparent decentralized lottery system. Bitokun has pivoted from a pure lottery platform to a DeFi platform, in a bid to further encourage crypto adoption in Africa.

“DeFi eliminates intermediaries like banks or financial institutions, and offers decentralized and transparent services such as lending, borrowing, trading, and investing,” Abdulrasak Bernard, Co-Founder and CEO of Bitokun Labs said. “By leveraging DeFi, Bitokun Labs aims to provide financial services to young Africans without the need for traditional intermediaries, enabling greater financial inclusion and control.”

The company will allocate a portion of its revenue to support charitable activities and initiatives that promote financial and Web3 literacy across underserved communities in Africa, it said in its statement. “Bitokun aims to make a positive difference in society, reinforcing its mission of fostering financial empowerment and community development,” Bernard said.

In his 2022 review of DeFi in Africa, Tedd George, founder and chief narrative officer at Kleos Advisory said that the technology could be Africa’s opportunity to liberate the closed financial market.

“DeFi could help resolve one of the greatest challenges in African finance – how to get funds to ‘the last mile’, the communities and SMEs operating in remote, peripheral and rural areas,” George said.

-Edited by Shigeru Sato