Binance Announces Social Payments App

Yesterday, Binance launched Bundle, a social payments app supporting cash and cryptocurrency transactions. While Binance incubated and seeded Bundle, it’s an independent entity with external investors.

The app first went live in Nigeria, where users can buy, sell, and store digital/fiat currencies (including naira, the national currency, and bitcoin) without a fee. The app can also process card transactions and bank transfers.

Bundle wants to be in 30+ countries by the end of 2020, but that’s just the start—the goal is to become a crypto on/off ramp for Africa and a payments superapp.

The bullish case: Africa’s young user base is already comfortable using digital payments. An app that brings fiat and digital currencies into the fold could get serious traction.

The bearish? There’s competition, such as Facebook’s Libra (albeit scaled back) and China’s digital currency project, currently known as DC/EP.