Source: Johnstone Kpilaakaa/Benjamindada.com
After a significant portion of its $6.45 million pre-seed was affected by the FTX crash last year, Nigerian crypto and Web3 startup, Nestcoin recently announced that it has pivoted to Onboard, a non-custodial crypto wallet with the benefits of a custodial wallet.
Until this pivot, Nestcoin invested in over 13 African crypto and Web3 products including the now-defunct Lazerpay. It also built a crypto education platform Breach (now known as Compass by Onboard) and Metaverse Magna (MVM), a crypto gaming guild that helps users earn while playing. MVM is now a “standalone business”, according to Yele Bademosi, co-founder and CEO of Nestcoin.
“We want our members to be involved in creating the product they want, so they can create the future they envision. We consider what we have built to be the foundation and invite our users to join our community to build the ideal financial product. Essentially, we are giving you the power to ‘Be Your Own Bank’,” Bademosi said while outlining the vision for Onboard.
In a bid to strengthen the growth of Onboard, Nestcoin has raised $1.9 million in a “strategic funding” round led by Hashed Emergent, with participation from a global consortium of investors including Adaverse, Base Ecosystem Fund, Alter Global, CMT Digital, Magic Fund, 4DX Ventures, and some angels.
“We firmly believe that access to high-quality financial services should be universally available, regardless of one’s geographical location. We are committed to achieving this goal by creating a delightful and simple-to-use self-custody digital wallet,” says Bademosi.
In a statement shared with Bendada.com, Nestcoin described Onboard as a secure self-custody wallet for managing digital assets with no middlemen. “Onboard Wallet provides a seamless user experience, a seedless wallet, and an easy way to transfer funds directly to a bank account without going through a centralised exchange,” the statement added.
A self-custody wallet is a digital wallet that lets you securely store your cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and tokens while keeping them private. Unlike centralised exchanges, where you give custody of your assets to a third-party platform, a self-custody wallet lets you control your assets because you manage them yourself.
Some examples of self-custody wallets are Trust Wallet, MetaMask, and Onboard. On the other hand, when you use a centralised exchange like Coinbase or Binance, you use a wallet that is controlled by a third party. This means you have less control over your assets than you would with a self-custody wallet. (Culled from Onboard website)
According to Vincent Li, founding partner at Adaverse, “Nestcoin represents the vanguard of a financial revolution in Africa, where borders have transformed from barriers into bridges of opportunity. Onboard is a brilliant next-gen concept poised to contribute to sustainable economic models, perfectly aligning with our mission of sustainable development”.
In the following weeks, Nestcoin said it will launch Onboard Virtual Cards, a service that will allow Onboard users to spend their crypto as easily as cash, making both online and in-store payments possible across more than 160 countries.
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