Noones plans to utilize messaging, a familiar platform for peer-to-peer trades for the Global South, to empower users with Bitcoin.
A team of Bitcoin entrepreneurs have announced the launch of Noones, a new financial communications application aimed at empowering financial freedom in the Global South. The app will combine a messenger for peer-to-peer trades with a Bitcoin wallet operating at cost, and a peer-to-peer marketplace. The app is now available in private beta and is set to have instant swaps and Lightning support in the coming weeks.
The founding team of Noones is made up of Nicholas Gregory, CEO of CommerceBlock, Yusuf Nessary, co-founder of the Built With Bitcoin Foundation, and Bernard Parah, CEO and co-founder of Bitnob, who believe that “peer-to-peer is the world’s only true free market.” The app will be centered around the messenger, where the majority of peer-to-peer trades take place industry-wide, according to the press release. The peer-to-peer marketplace will allow users to buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin, Tether (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC).
The app is “pro-human, pro-trade, and pro-Bitcoin,” with a mission to unleash the true power of the Global South and “end economic apartheid” using Bitcoin, the press release states. “Our goal is to solve financial discrimination,” Yusuf Nessary, a founding team member and Head of Research and Business Development, said “Billions of people in the Global South face international monetary controls that exclude them from the global stage. Bitcoin offers an inclusive solution that can strengthen economies and give people a fighting chance.”
Noones’ messenger will have an ensured trade option with an escrow and a local moderator to settle disputes, providing an added security benefit compared to pure communication platforms. The app aims to monetize chat in a value-added way.
The app is inspired by the Bitcoin adoption already being done in the Global South, and the founding team hopes that Noones will help unite the region with communications, payments and a store of value. “It’s game over on monetary control,” said Nessary. “It’s time to push forward a new financial standard — one where people can easily access the world’s financial system and money flows freely around the world through peer-to-peer trade.”
Noones’ announcement comes at a time when Bitcoin is gaining traction worldwide as an alternative to traditional financial systems. Noones’ is not available for users in the United States or any other country on their blocked countries list due to regulatory restrictions.