Brace yourself, world – there’s a new cryptocurrency on the block.

It’s called “Akoin,” and it’s brought to you by none other than the “Smack That” singer himself, Akon.

Yup, that Akon.

I know – it sounds a tad ridiculous, right? However, it’s all very true.

According to a report by The A.V. Club, Akon revealed his plans about this cryptocurrency at the annual Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in France on Tuesday, June 19.

Judging from the report, he’s not entering the cryptocurrency game for kicks:

Akon is planning to use the money he makes from Akoin to help fund his Lightning Africa project, which involves promoting the use of solar power in Africa, and he’s apparently hoping to set up an Akoin-dependent community called Akon Crypto City that has Akoin “at the center [sic] of transactional life.”

Hmm, it seems like the singer has good intentions up his sleeve. Nice.

This is what an Akoin would look like:

Take that, Bitcoin.

Akon wants to take Akoin far, especially in the African continent, a report by Mashable explains:

I think that blockchain and crypto could be the savior for Africa in many ways because it brings the power back to the people and brings the security back into the currency system and also allows the people to utilize [sic] it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow government to do those things that are keeping them down.

Attaboy, Akon. Much obliged on this end.

Let’s hope Akoin does well – South Africans haven’t had much luck with certain cryptocurrencies in the last few months.

As for technical questions about the new cryptocurrency, Akon responded:

I come up with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out.

Spoken like a true business mogul.

[source:a.v.club&mashable]