East Africa is set to welcome a new cryptocurrency exchange backed by a formidable list of industry heavyweights looking to tap into a continent full of potential users.

Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, Huobi Ventures and other prominent venture capital firms and angel investors have contributed $23 million to launch MARA. The exchange will initially operate in Kenya and Nigeria, offering new users a basic exchange platform to acquire, trade and withdraw cryptocurrencies.

The platform will offer a professional exchange featuring extensive trading options and technical analysis tools for more experienced traders. Plans are in place to develop the MARA chain, a layer-1 blockchain allowing developers to build decentralized applications within the prospective MARA ecosystem.

The MARA team also confirmed the establishment of a partnership with the Central African Republic. The African country followed in the footsteps of pro-Bitcoin (BTC) state El Salvador by legalizing Bitcoin as legal tender in April 2022. MARA will serve as the official crypto partner of the country and will advise the government on best practices, strategy and planning as it looks to adopt cryptocurrencies on a wider scale.

Cointelegraph spoke to MARA CEO and co-founder Chi Nnadi to unpack the exchange’s inception and the prospects that Africa has to offer to the newly founded platform. After spending most of the past decade living in Nigeria, Chi recently moved to Kenya before the idea underlying MARA crystallized.

Nigeria and Kenya’s position as cryptocurrency adoption hotspots on the continent was a driving factor in MARA’s decision to launch its offering in the two countries. According to Chainalysis, Kenya leads the rest of the world in peer-to-peer