Zebedee, United States-based Bitcoin gaming and payments company, has expanded operations into Africa through a partnership with Bitnob, an African crypto exchange, to allow African gamers get rewarded in cryptocurrency.

Key details

  • The partnership will provide African users with a platform through which they can earn bitcoin by playing games or listening to podcasts on Zebedee. Additionally, it offers cross-border payment options.
  • Using the Bitcoin lightning network, Zebedee incorporates a second layer into games, enabling developers to replace in-game points with the smallest units of Bitcoin — satoshis.
  • The partnership with Bitnob allows gamers to convert accumulated satoshis into local fiat.
  • According to Ben Cousens, chief strategy officer at Zebedee, the traditional fiat payment systems are expensive for African gamers, leading to a loss in engagement and revenue.

Telling quote

“If I’m Activision Blizzard or EA Games, and I have 30 million players of my games in Africa, and I run tournaments or giveaways, I cannot pay those players on fixed-rate rails — it is too expensive. I am limited to the U.S., and I lose money from loss of engagement. Try sending $0.01 to these territories on another rail,” he said.

  • Essentially, the Lightning Network makes it possible to send micropayments that are currently difficult to process via traditional payment channels.

Zoom out

  • A 2021 study by Newzoo, a games analytics firm, and Carry1st, a South African gaming platform, found that the number of gamers in Sub-Saharan Africa increased to 186 million in 2021 from 77 million in 2015.
  • South Africa topped the chart, with 40% of its population in gaming. Ghana followed, with 27% of its population. Nigeria came third, with 23% of its population considered gamers.
  • The concept of earning from games has been floated. This is one of the underpinnings of the play-to-earn economy that has grown in popularity in low-income countries.