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Pre-Proposal: Integrating Dash into exchange in Africa

Tawanda Kembo

New member
I'm sharing this project idea, firstly to hear if the community if this is an idea worth funding and secondly, if it is, to get feedback on how I can improve this proposal.

My background:
I got involved in cryptocurrency through bitcoin in 2012 and now run a bitcoin exchange in Zimbabwe called BitcoinFundi. We are one of the few bitcoin exchanges in Africa and have been live since September 2015.

Why we are considering dash
We're seen real use cases for cryptocurrency here, individuals and companies are actually using bitcoin it for cross-border payments and remittances in ways they could't before. To give an example, capital controls in Zimbabwe (as in many African countries) have made it difficult to send money outside the country so people couldn't get into certain types of businesses because they couldn't pay suppliers abroad.
How ever there are a few challenges we've seen:
  1. Liquidity - there is not enough bitcoin in circulation in Africa to meet the local demand
  2. Arbitrage - The price of bitcoin is almost always significantly higher in Africa than it is in other parts of the world
  3. The bid-ask spread is always high because of the liquidity situation. it's also very difficult to buy bitcoin instantly
  4. High transaction fees and long confirmation times have are making bitcoin less and less atractive are ruining the user experience for cryptocurrency users who only know bitcoin
I think adding dash as a second cryptocurrency could help the cryptocurrency ecosystem and dash get a foothold in the African market for a few reasons:
  1. People will get access to an alternative cryptocurrency that is faster and cheaper
  2. Having a cryptocurrency pair also increases the volume and liquidity because it allows people outside Africa to also trade on the platform. If the only currency pairs are bitcoin and local fiat currencies then only people in Africa will trade because people outside Africa cannot easily get access to local fiat currencies.

What I need funding for:
  1. Integration - i.e. having DASH added as the second cryptocurrency
  2. Do some market making initially to make sure that DASH is always available at a reasonable price and that the bid-ask spread initially will be low.
  3. A launch and follow on meetups to educate and raise awareness
Disclosure:
I used Africa a lot in my post but our exchange just available in Zimbabwe right now. I used Africa because we are working on opening it up in other African countries.

Again, I'd love to hear what you think about my idea and how you think I can improve it.
 
Hi Tawanda

My mother is Zimbabwean, so I understand the situation there. Many of my relatives are still in Zim, but I'm South African.

I am working with the same sort of goals that you seem to have.

Your pre-proposal is very eloquently written, but needs more work. We'd need to know HOW you intend to do the integration, marketing and launch. Especially, how will you manage to have DASH added as the second cryptocurrency?

BTW, is Bitcoin commonly traded in Zim already? I'd like to understand how! Please explain....
 
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wtf, Dima???

What is your exchange, if you speak of our exchange?

Yeah, Dash is small. Ish. In terms of market cap. But the internal infrastructure of Dash is way beyond any other crypto.

Are you just trolling?
 
The monthly volume of BitcoinFundi is about 20 BTC, you can check it on the bottom of this page https://bitcoinfundi.com/
He ask us to invest in something very very small. This is all what I wanna say. We can't expect big profit from this.
 
Dude, you make no sense at all. So what about the monthly volume? Percentages matter much more!
 
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I didn't said I dont like this proposal. I said we can't expect big profit from this. And it's true. But the question is - how much money he actually need? He didn't tell us yet. If the amount of money is congruent to the volume of his business, then we can support him. But it is senseless to give him a lot of money.
 
Dima, I think that the issue just boils down to statistics...

This dude is on the right path. The question is, will his activities benefit the Dash community sufficiently to warrant investing in him?

Futhermor, his pre-proposal is vague. We surely need more meat on the bone?
 
He ask us to invest in something very very small. This is all what I wanna say. We can't expect big profit from this.
Everything has been small one day. Every company. So that's not really an argument.
About the profits, if this would be your only motivation here, try not to think short term but long term. If this project, I guess in conjonction with other, helps Dash to set foot in the African continent, that would greatly increased volume, demand, price etc.
Dash is about mass adoption but we have to start somewhere right ?

Now, if you have some better ideas or know people that manage any other exchange in any country in Africa, don't hesitate in sharing.

@Tawanda Kembo
I obviously like the idea. How much would you ask for that ?
 
I have a lot of ideas. I am involved with rural communities who have to travel 100km to the nearest banks. They don't have cars. They transact in small amounts. Banks are expensive. My University and I have been involved there in ICT4D for over a decade. This is the place for something like Dash.
 
Hi Tawanda,

At first glance your proposal idea makes sense.
It would probably help your proposal a lot if you sit down and work out the cost-ballpark for the integration and a realistic timeplan.
Try not to be overly optimistic stay realistic.

Personally I like conservative plans that are met or exceeded much better than overly optimistic plans that always end in disappointment.
But that may be just my mentality and personal preference ( I am not american ;) ).

If you manage to sketch out a plan that shows how Dash can solve some of the monetary issues in your country/contient with a long-term growth perspective for Dash - your chances of succeeding with a proposal are good IMHO.
 
I would love to get behind this proposal, but I do want to get some kind of development of how much money he needs, and how he expects to benefit. some kind of projection.

For example, I would like to see (maybe on a next round) integration with major retailers in the area. That would certainly bring the volume that we hope for. Remember we want DASH to be used, more than traded and speculated, is a big thing if a major merchant can adapt it to their infrastructure. How far are you from that?

Does your exchange has an API?
 
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i will vote yes if requested Dash amount is reasonable AND OP can prove his connection with said exchange either in twitter feed or/or blog.
 
... we are working on opening it up in other African countries.

Again, I'd love to hear what you think about my idea and how you think I can improve it.

Howzit Tawanda,
I'm an African as well and you are facing a shitload of work, but I will help you where I can. We need dash in Africa ASAP as a money transmitter and everywhere once Evolution is live. https://www.dash.org/evolution/

Couple of things:
Amanda's videos will give you an excellent understanding of dash - way too much to read on all the forums/slacks. Start from+- Jan/Feb this year and look through all of them if you can - lots happened the last 4 months and she covered it all. She brings out 2 or 3 per week - pick up her weekly videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiFMZOlhgsYJPIiG0bjT1_SuT5h7NqPCC
and subscribe to her.

The Pre-Proposal phase is becoming quite formalised and you might be one of the first to be officially evaluated by the PEC (Proposal Evaluation Committee), so have a look here on how to submit a Pre-Proposal https://goo.gl/RgIlEq
Then here at the Evaluator Guidelines (under construction) and it will give you an idea how we will evaluate your proposal. https://goo.gl/bIydYX

Any questions - post in this thread.
When you have a reasonable idea of what is needed edit your 1st post and replace the existing description with a more 'correct' Pre-Proposal description, to get more feedback.
If you are ready/comfortable you can post the actual Proposal +- 8 June ( I would recommend not publishing a cost here until you are very sure of what you are doing)
Your Pre-Proposal will be dissected by the community, but I will try and guide you in adapting the Pre-Proposal until it's ready to be launched as an official Proposal.

PM me when you have read through all the material and replaced the description with a more 'correct' Pre-Proposal.
You will notice that you have 2 serious problems: You are unknown and you are asking for Dash up front - the rest of your proposal will have to be extremely good to give you a chance of making the Short List, but, don't give up hope... We can work on both problems. There's always a way to make big problems smaller.
Good Luck :D
 
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I think price will be the primary reason it gets approved or not. I figure it's going to be reasonable considering the vast differences in cost of living and talent. As well as selling the fact that you will be bringing on more countries.
 
Wow Tawanda,

As I understand, this PEC thing is quite new. But the PEC will scrutinize your pre-proposal to ensure that you are legit, and that is a good thing IMHO. We need to know who you are, so please continue with the forum discussions.

I would like to introduce Dash to Africa, and if you are legit then we might do business together.
Cheers!
 
Dima,

I might have been rude to you. I apologize.

The real question is: is this guy legitimate?

If he is really going to introduce Dash to a new exchange, then that is awesome and we should support him. Within reason.

But maybe he might be a scamster. I really don't know. Have any of you taken the time to register on his website? I could make a website too, but how much trading does he do?

Somebody needs to check-him-out before funds get spent on him. IMHO.
 
Well, let's wait for Tawanda to answer now, coz we are all talking but he is not saying anything back... :)
 
I like the idea and would probably vote yes depending on how much your asking for. How long has your exchange been around and what is the growth rate? Will this proposal include integration for InstantSend?

Also, for people to feel comfortable voting on this proposal you'll need to prove you are who you say you are. Can you create a page on bitcoinfundi.com dedicated to this proposal? Doesn't matter what's on it, it would just be for verification.

Thanks!
 
I like the idea and would probably vote yes depending on how much your asking for. How long has your exchange been around and what is the growth rate? Will this proposal include integration for InstantSend?

Also, for people to feel comfortable voting on this proposal you'll need to prove you are who you say you are. Can you create a page on bitcoinfundi.com dedicated to this proposal? Doesn't matter what's on it, it would just be for verification.

Thanks!
I'm going to steal this :D
 
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