Ghanaian startup Beam announces closure of international Bitcoin remittance business

According to local media Disrupt Africa, Ghanaian startup Beam has announced the closure of its international Bitcoin remittance service.

Beam was launched by尼坤•汉达HandaNikunj and法尔克•本克in October 2014 with the goal of addressing the growing demand for remittances in Ghana. According to the latest report from the World Bank, 70% of the Ghanaian population has not yet enjoyed basic banking financial services, which provides an opportunity for Bitcoin to flourish in this area.

However, Beam is leaving the field. It is reported that Handa has left Beam, and Benke also plans to transform the company's business and stop the original remittance business. The new Beam will provide gift and bill payment services for Ghanaians. It is not clear why they gave up the remittance business. Both of them chose to remain silent on this issue.

Benke told Disrupt Africa:

“Using an international debit or credit card, you can pay bills, top up phone credit, send gifts and more, so there’s no need to pay with cash anymore, and we no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.”

Benke also said that although they no longer support Bitcoin payments, he personally still believes in the potential of the African market.

According to a report published by NewsGhana.com, Ghanaian entrepreneurs are generally frustrated with the country’s banking infrastructure and have been blaming the overbearing behavior of financial giants for hindering the growth of young entrepreneurs.

One trader said:

“Banks are not prepared to help local entrepreneurs like us because they think we don’t meet their conditions. In fact, these banks have no innovation in credit services.”

Although Beam has been evasive about the reasons for the closure, they also admitted that they did face certain limitations when operating a Bitcoin remittance business. As Benke said, the high cost of Bitcoin exchange services, the small number of people who accept Bitcoin, and the huge fluctuations in Bitcoin prices have brought a lot of difficulties to the company's operations.