Akon's African 'Wakanda' city gets crushed: 'I take full responsibility'



In 2020, platinum-selling artist Akon began an ambitious project to build a futuristic city in his ancestral homeland of Senegal. The city promised state-of-the-art infrastructure that acts as an "extension of the sea into the land."

The singer started the $6 billion project, called AkonCity, with plans for a 2,000-acre resort, condos, and a stadium, all powered by renewable energy. In addition to featuring his own Akon Tower, the city was to use Akon's cryptocurrency, "Akoin," as its primary monetary type.

Five years later, not only is Akon's coin circling the drain, but the Senegalese tourism board has seemingly wiped the 52-year-old's dream off the storyboard.

When the hit film "Black Panther" was released in 2018 — a film about a supernatural black ethno-state — Akon said the movie's success was a sign from God that he should continue building his city.

'God allowed this movie to be successful … this can be possible in Africa.’

"When the movie came it was almost like a blessing, almost like God allowed this movie to be successful for me to get compared to such success to give people that mind state that this can be possible in Africa," Akon said, according to Africa News.

By mid-2024, however, Akon was given an ultimatum by Senegal to either start a significant amount of construction or abandon the land so that other projects could take over.

That October, the singer insisted during an interview on "The Bootleg Kev Podcast" that relations with Senegal were good and the project was "still in motion."

Plans for an "African restaurant" and "African open bazaar" could not save AkonCity, though, and this week the head of Senegal's tourism authority officially shut down Akon's Wakanda, forever.

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"The Akon City project no longer exists," said Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of the Senegalese tourism authority, according to Newsweek.

The outlet also reported that Akon publicly acknowledged that the project "wasn't being managed properly."

"I take full responsibility for that," Akon added.

Senegalese authorities reportedly stated that developments at the site would continue, but plans would be revised and downsize, all while still involving Akon. The country allegedly wants to follow through on some of the projects as it prepares to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

Despite the promise of an economic boom, residents described the city in late 2022 as a series of empty fields that were being grazed by goats.

As much could be expected from a vacant African construction site, but expectations were always too high, according to Akon.

The entrepreneur admitted to Bootleg Kev in their 2024 interview that he regretted promoting the project while it was still in the design phase. Akon said that while public perception was that construction was already under way, he still had to overcome hurdles like environmental licenses and land surveys.

These are processes that "you learn as you go," Akon told the host.

Akon also said he brought on one of the designers of Saudi Arabia's project the Line, a futuristic walled city of dystopian nightmares, but this still did not help the project go forward.

Perhaps the most wide-eyed element of the project was the city's cryptocurrency backing. The primary coin, Akon's Akoin, has spectacularly underachieved in terms of growth.

Peaking at $0.4955 USD in February 2021 according to Crypto.com, Akoin is currently valued at $0.003 USD. Interestingly, this is still more valuable than Senegal's CFA franc, which is worth $0.0018 USD at the time of this writing.

Efforts to popularize the cryptocoin reportedly struggled in the Senegalese market, and the coin was not accepted by regulators, per Dexerto.

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Real name Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam, Akon was born in St. Louis to Senegalese parents. With over 5 million albums sold, the artist was beloved across the world, particularly for his diamond-selling club song "Sexy Bitch."

Only time will tell what the Senegalese project will look like moving forward, but Akon has had successful projects in the region before.

According to the Borgen Project, Akon's Lighting Africa project has brought solar energy to 25 African nations, serving 28.8 million Africans with street lights and solar panels.

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Right-wing investor to challenge traditional banking with national crypto bank



A challenger to traditional banking has finally emerged, and it is coming from the right wing.

After billionaire Palmer Luckey was reported to be starting a cryptocurrency venture, it was unclear how big the scope would be and if it would work only in digital currencies.

Now that public filings have emerged, the new project was revealed to have major conservative backing while literally giving traditional banks a run for their money.

'The bank will be a national bank ... providing traditional banking products.'

Blaze News reported last week that Luckey had teamed up with Joe Lonsdale to start the new company; Lonsdale co-founded Palantir Technologies with Luckey and has his own software companies, as well. At the same time, Lonsdale's venture firm 8VC led a $225 million fundraising round for the new company to meet federal regulatory requirements.

The tech entrepreneurs were first thought to be starting a bank that would work primarily on maximizing returns for tech startups, but recent filings revealed much more is in store. According to the Financial Times, the new company has applied for a national bank charter, which would it give license to operate as a typical banking institution.

The Times also revealed a new right-wing mega-donor has joined the mix.

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  Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, during an interview on 'The Circuit with Emily Chang' at Anduril's headquarters in Costa Mesa, California, US, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. Anduril recently beat several legacy defense players in a contest for a major contract to develop an unmanned fighter jet for the US Air Force and is now valued at $8.5 billion. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images

 

None other than Peter Thiel and his venture capital fund, the Founders Fund, will also be backing the startup, according to two of the Times' sources.

Thiel is, of course, known for giving millions to Republican campaigns over the years, including over a million dollars to President Donald Trump for his 2016 campaign.

This new undertaking, dubbed Erebor, is yet another one of Luckey's companies named after themes found in J.R.R. Tolkien books. This one refers to the mountain in "The Hobbit," where the dragon Smaug hoards his gold. His other companies, Anduril and Palantir, are references to a character's sword and a magical seeing stone, respectively.

Filings revealed, "The bank will be a national bank ... providing traditional banking products, as well as virtual currency-related products and services, for businesses and individuals."

Adding to previous speculation, the target market was listed as businesses that are part of the American "innovation economy," including tech companies focused on virtual currencies, artificial intelligence, or defense manufacturing.

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  A Bitcoin Teller Machine in San Francisco, California, US, on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. The Bitcoin rally sparked by US President-elect Donald Trump's election victory in early November is stalling as 2024 draws to a close. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

 

Erebor will work with stablecoins, cryptocurrency tied to relatively stable assets like the U.S. dollar or gold. This is done to limit the volatility of a coin without sacrificing its benefits, creating investment opportunities far in excess of simply purchasing and holding, say, Bitcoin.

For example, President Trump works with the stablecoin USD1, which is attached to the U.S. dollar.

"Longtime crypto people know it's a fine line between being targeted by government and being co-opted by government," explained Blaze Media's James Poulos. "But it's hard to strike the right balance without risking the worst of both worlds — a crypto economy that regulators tolerate but can destroy or manipulate with the wave of a hand."

Poulos added that the most stable compromise naturally involves figures that Washington relies on in other high-tech industries, "however much freedom-loving 'maxis' wish that weren't the case."

"Regardless, it doesn't matter how perfect a balance the kingpins of crypto and banking might strike if Bitcoin (to take the biggest example) falls short of its potential as a peer-to-peer currency and becomes just another place for established wealth to accrue value," Poulos concluded.

Erebor's filing said it plans on working with non-U.S. companies that are "seeking access to the U.S. banking system," according to the filing, and said it would "differentiate itself" by working with customers who are not well served by "traditional or disruptive financial institutions."

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Conservatives can lead the charge on clean crypto rules



Many assume conservative principles belong to the past. They don’t. The debate over cryptocurrency regulation — including the House GOP’s Clarity Act — offers a chance to apply those principles to a 21st-century frontier.

Cryptocurrency and decentralized finance reflect core American values: free speech, free markets, and innovation from the ground up. Across the country, developers are building protocols that move money in microseconds, create new investment tools, and expand access to capital like never before.

With a Republican-led Congress considering landmark cryptocurrency legislation, we have a historic opportunity to apply time-tested conservative values to the cutting edge of financial innovation.

Blockchain technology provides a means to secure property rights in the digital era. The most transformative products likely haven’t even launched yet.

The potential benefits are massive. In 2024 alone, decentralized finance grew to more than $114 billion. Even more capital — billions of dollars — stands ready to enter the space through pension funds and institutional investors.

But that money won’t move without guardrails.

Institutional investors need transparency. That means audit requirements they can trust, legally accountable custodians, clear reporting on asset health, and safeguards against manipulation.

They also need legal certainty. Defined rules give investors confidence. Without them, they’ll stay away — or invest elsewhere.

That’s where Washington plays a role.

The Trump administration shifted U.S. regulatory policy toward digital assets, elevating crypto to a national priority through executive order. Now, with a Republican-led Congress weighing landmark crypto legislation, conservatives have a real opportunity.

This moment demands more than slogans. It calls for applying time-tested conservative principles — rule of law, market discipline, and individual liberty — to the future of finance.

Don’t be afraid

Some treat cryptocurrency as a threat. Fair enough — the collapse of FTX still casts a long shadow over the current debate in Congress.

Sam Bankman-Fried, a Democratic megadonor, didn’t just run a failed company. He ran a cautionary tale — a playbook for what lawmakers must never allow again.

The FTX scandal highlights two enduring conservative truths:

  1. Human nature is flawed. Left unchecked, individuals will act out of greed and self-interest. Conservatives have never pretended otherwise — and that’s why we build systems of accountability.
  2. The rule of law matters. Pre-established standards prevent chaos. Waiting for disaster or making policy on the fly only magnifies the damage.

FTX didn’t collapse because of cryptocurrency. It failed because no one held Bankman-Fried accountable. He amassed influence through backroom politics and ran a tangled network of private firms without meaningful oversight. The result: billions vaporized and public trust shattered.

Thoughtful legislation can prevent the next meltdown — not by stifling innovation, but by setting clear, enforceable rules rooted in transparency, responsibility, and the rule of law.

A remedy with room to improve

The bill now before Congress offers a rare chance to get crypto regulation right.

It tackles the custodial vulnerabilities exposed by the FTX collapse and establishes a framework that allows digital asset projects to integrate into the broader financial system. Just as important, it does so under a unified set of rules.

The bill follows conservative logic. It exempts infrastructure providers — such as blockchain validators and payment processors — from regulatory burdens that don’t apply. These actors don’t make governance decisions, and the law should reflect that.

It also classifies participants based on their actions, rather than the extent of their political influence.

But the bill still needs one critical fix.

Lawmakers need to include decentralized autonomous organizations as eligible cryptocurrency issuers. These DAOs, the opposite of central banks, operate through user-led governance. Crypto users vote on the rules of the system they help create.

DAOs have become common in decentralized finance. Yet the current bill overlooks them. That omission could block the very groups driving innovation from entering the regulated space.

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  Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

If a project follows the rules, discloses information, and acts responsibly, it should qualify, regardless of how it governs itself. Whether the issuer is a DAO, a startup, or a traditional bank, one standard should apply.

That’s the conservative way: equal rules, fair enforcement, and space for innovation to thrive.

What if we get it wrong?

Leaving the bill unamended carries real risks:

  • Overreaching compliance rules could smother the best of American innovation — now and in the future.
  • Narrow legal definitions might force decentralized finance into the hands of a few massive exchanges, recreating the same “too big to fail” system that burned taxpayers in 2008.
  • Ongoing regulatory ambiguity could drive developers and infrastructure providers offshore, into the arms of authoritarian regimes eager to benefit from America’s hesitation.

The biggest danger? Watching capital and talent flee to countries that welcome decentralized commerce while the United States — its origin point — falls behind.

Decentralized finance leaders aren’t calling for lawlessness. They want smart policy.

Joe Sticco, co-founder of Cryptex and a White House Crypto Summit participant, put it this way: “In DeFi, it’s not about evading rules — it’s about building better ones.”

Sticco believes today’s innovators want a seat at the table. “We believe open financial systems can coexist with responsible oversight,” he told me. “We have to show up, we have to explain the tech, and we have to help shape the rules.”

Congress still has time to get this right. But the window is closing.

The path forward

Republicans now hold both chambers of Congress. That means the window to act is wide open.

This isn’t about growing government. It’s about setting the rules so innovation can thrive, fraud gets stopped, and people are held accountable. Here's what that looks like:

  • Clear rules that apply fairly to both traditional companies and decentralized projects;
  • Basic protections like audits, secure custody of funds, and anti-fraud measures;
  • Freedom for developers to build new tools without unfair roadblocks;
  • And clear standards for when crypto projects are considered stable enough to ease up on oversight.

With these fixes, the Clarity Act can do what no other crypto bill has: protect investors, promote innovation, and keep America in the lead.

We can build the future of finance right here — on American terms, with American values. But we have to act now.

Looking for Bitcoin’s Mr. Roboto

In late 2008 during the depths of the global financial crisis, someone going by the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto registered a website domain and posted a nine-page white paper describing the technical workings of something called Bitcoin, a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system,” to an obscure moderated mailing list frequented by privacy-obsessed computer nerds. In January 2009, this shadowy Nakamoto figure released an alpha version of the open-source software for Bitcoin to the masses and then spent the next two years engaging in online discussions to answer questions and troubleshoot glitches with the new blockchain-based decentralized technology. In 2011, he (or she or they) abruptly went dark and disappeared into the ether, leaving the world with a self-perpetuating digital money-printing machine.

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Mark Zuckerberg is coming for your wallet



I recently wrote about how Mark Zuckerberg was building a new surveillance state — one powered by AI, emotion-reading smartglasses, and frictionless data capture. But while the cameras watch your eyes, something even more dangerous is quietly tightening its grip around your wallet.

Zuckerberg is moving back into crypto. And this time, Zuck might actually pull it off.

Once Meta controls the rails, it doesn’t need to censor. It just needs to interrupt the flow. No bans. No headlines. Just stealthy throttling.

Meta reportedly wants to bring stablecoins into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. In simple terms, stablecoins are digital currencies linked to something steady (like the U.S. dollar). Unlike Bitcoin, they don’t fluctuate wildly in value. As the name suggests, stablecoins are designed to remain stable. This might seem dull, even boring, but that’s the point. Stablecoins don’t sound revolutionary. They sound responsible. Professional. But when Meta adopts them, they stop being boring. They become a silent engine for dominance — a digital financial infrastructure controlled by one man, backed by 3 billion users.

And it’s not his first attempt.

Zuckerberg’s previous crypto project, Libra (later renamed Diem), was slapped down by global regulators. The concern? That one company could create a private global financial system, bypassing central banks, dodging oversight, and pressuring national currencies. The backlash was swift. Congress intervened. The EU objected. Even the Bank of England said no.

But Zuckerberg doesn’t give up. He pivots. This time, he’s not launching his own coin. He’s slipping through the back door by partnering with existing stablecoin providers. No new coin. No major announcement. Just seamless integrations, one contract at a time.

The goal isn’t cryptocurrency innovation or financial empowerment. It’s control. Meta doesn’t just want to host transactions. It wants to be the rails, the protocol, the silent layer under every payment, tip, and subscription. If he pulls this off, Meta won’t just know what you watch; it will know what you buy, what you send, who you support, and what causes you can’t fund. That’s right, can’t. This is where it gets dangerous.

Once Meta controls the rails, it doesn’t need to censor. It just needs to interrupt the flow. No bans. No headlines. Just stealthy throttling. A creator doesn’t get paid. A fundraiser gets flagged. A dissident sees his transactions “delayed for review.”

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 Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

If this sounds far-fetched, please remember that this is already happening. Just look at PayPal, GoFundMe, and Patreon — all have denied payouts over politics. Now imagine that same enforcement mechanism baked into the world’s largest social network. This won’t happen overnight. It’ll look like a feature. It starts with convenience. Send money to friends, tip a podcast host, buy merch in one click, etc. Then it expands: in-app loans, subscriptions, and gig worker payouts. Then it tightens: flagged transactions, ranked trust scores, and real-time financial nudging. Before long, you’re not just using Meta — you’re living inside it. A walled garden with its own currency, rules, and enforcement.

And the really humorous part is that it will be sold as freedom. You’ll hear about “empowering creators.” “Serving the underbanked.” “Financial inclusion.” These are the same buzzwords that Big Tech always uses when it’s selling control in disguise. But let me be clear: When one unelected billionaire sets the rules for global money flow, that’s not inclusion. That’s risk. That’s regulatory arbitrage masquerading as progress.

Imagine the 2028 U.S. election. A political candidate is frozen out of ad payments because Meta deems him “high-risk.” A protest group can’t receive donations. A journalist’s subscription platform loses its payout privileges. Again, this isn’t far-fetched; this isn’t hypothetical. Meta already scans private messages for flagged links. It already limits what content is shown based on opaque “community guidelines.” Crypto integration just tightens the noose. Very soon, it won’t be just speech on the line. It will be livelihoods. The digital public square is merging with the digital bank. And Zuckerberg will be both mayor and treasurer.

Stablecoins weren’t supposed to look like this. They were meant to reduce fees, streamline cross-border payments, and offer an alternative to bloated legacy finance. But in the wrong hands, they become something else. Not just a faster dollar, but a programmable one. One that can be paused, tracked, and controlled.

And here’s the final scenario no one wants to admit: Once Meta has stablecoin rails in place, what’s stopping it from launching its own currency again? Except this time, it won’t be called Libra. It won’t be regulated like a bank. It will already be everywhere. A default setting. An opt-out that you didn’t even know was enabled. That’s the real endgame. Zuckerberg failed the first time because he moved too fast and too loudly. This time, he’s moving quietly. And that should scare the hell out of you.

Because if he succeeds, it won’t just be a coin. It’ll be the operating system of your financial life. And once Meta’s inside your wallet, there’s no logging out.

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