Australia-based bitcoin exchange igot last week announced its acquisition of Kenya’s TagPesa crypto exchange and remittance gateway. In addition, the exchange also was granted access to M-Pesa, giving members the ability to cash out directly from the country’s mobile payment system.
The igot exchange was created to enable people to easily buy, sell, send and receive bitcoin around the globe, and is open for business in over 40 countries, including the European Union and parts of the Middle East and Africa, according to a press release. Customers have full access to all exchange features and are able to deposit and withdraw from their local fiat currency bank accounts. In addition, 90 percent of igot’s bitcoins are kept offline in hack-proof “cold storage” facilities spread around the globe, providing additional peace of mind.
“Over 2.5 million Kenyan emigrants around the world send money home to their families. Igot aims to make these transactions as easy, fast and convenient as possible,” said Rick Day, co-founder of igot. “In 2014, remittance inflows to Kenya increased by USD 137 million or (11 percent) to USD 1,428.5 billion. The average remittance transaction costs the emigrant sender between 5 percent and 9 percent. With a flat 1-percent transaction fee, we expect to get a lot more traction as Bitcoin becomes more ubiquitous.”
There is no charge for sending or receiving bitcoin amongst igot users. Furthermore, the company said igot.com is designed to always be completely transparent regarding its fees as users will always know the exact cost of each transaction with complete certainty.