The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A MOBILE application connecting Asue, one of the Bahamas' oldest saving methods, with the emerging Blockchain technology is now being marketed locally.

Simone Smith-Bain, a Bermuda-based Bahamian attorney, told Tribune Business that a mobile app called ChamaPesa, which means 'group money' in East Africa - where it was first developed and tested - will provide extra accountability and security to the traditional Asue savings method.

"People get nervous sometimes putting money into savings schemes, and we know of some of the issues that can occur with Asues. We need to save, however, and this is a way of connecting one of the oldest savings schemes with the newest technology," said Mrs Smith-Bain. "This app supports that kind of person-to-person engagement. It provides accountability, security and KYC, with the system itself serving as the treasurer." Mrs Smith-Bain added that the app also includes a rating system, identification process and penalty for failing to contribute.

ChamaPesa is intended to support both traditional rotating savings groups as well as small investment clubs that provide loans to members. The app will use a utility token, called ChamaCoin, to collect transaction fees and distribute them as rewards back to the users. ChamaCoin will also be used as a form of collateral for loans and other applications in the app that require trust.

Solidus Ltd, a Bermuda company, has begun the pre-sale of these ChamaCoin cryptotokens to sophisticated investors, as they seek to bring ChamaPesa to market.

The token sale is being managed Mrs Smith-Bean and fellow attorney, Marvin Hanna. Mrs Smith-Bean, a Nassau native, and her husband, Marc Bean, a former telecommunications minister and leader of the Progressive Labour Party in Bermuda, acquired a major stake in the project. Mrs Smith-Bean serves as a director of the company and her husband is its chairman.

Solidus currently has a prototype of the ChamaPesa app in testing and development, with plans to release it publicly in the 2018 fourth quarter. The technical lead for the project is financial cryptographer Ian Grigg, whose recent experience includes consulting as a co-architect of R3's Corda, the blockchain for banks, as well as a blockchain operating system called 'EOS'.

"We have been marketing international, and people have caught on to it very quickly, seeing it as a decentralised way of saving. This is the first time we are marketing it locally. We're in an ICO stage. Right now we are in the process of doing private placement with a select few investors, persons in the space and knowledgeable about the technology. The pre-sale is open until March and will only be extended if oversubscribed," said Mrs-Smith-Bean. It is expected that ChamaPesa will make savings clubs easier to manage and more reliable for members, encouraging persons to save and invest locally. Mrs Smith-Bean said the establishment of an international cryptocurrency association is in the works to provide education to Bahamians on the technology.