African start-up Beam ceases Bitcoin remittance service

Beam, a Ghana-based start-up company, has recently announced on its website that it is stopping its bitcoin remittance service. Launched last October by Nikunj Handa and Falk Benke, the company did not mention the reason behind its decision.

"With a heavy heart, we have decided to discontinue our Bitcoin remittance service", the website read. "However, this is not the end of Beam. We are working on other exciting services enabling Ghanaians in the diaspora to care for loved ones back home."

The new Beam allows Ghanaians overseas to pay for gifts and bills for friends and family back home using an international debit or credit card.

"Using an international debit or credit card, you can pay for utility bills, top up airtime, send gifts or even get errands done back home in Ghana," Benke told Disrupt Africa. "So no direct cash payouts anymore and we no longer accept bitcoin as means of payment."

Without revealing much of the details, Benke suggested that the decision to stop bitcoin remittance service was "due to lack of uptake related to the cost of exchanging bitcoin into local currency, limited merchants accepting bitcoin as a means of payment, and price volatility."