Helicarrier (prev Buycoins)

Market position

Helicarrier competes in African fintech and remittances against companies including Chipper Cash, Eversend, Afriex and Moniepoint, distinguishing itself by building on crypto infrastructure and spanning both remittances and digital asset management. BuyCoins reported growth from $28 million in trade volume with about 1,400 trading users in 2019 to roughly $141.4 million across 16,768 users in 2020.

Helicarrier combines crypto rails with both consumer remittance and digital asset management, offering diaspora transfers through Sendcash alongside exchange and portfolio tools through BuyCoins, and a naira-denominated stablecoin (NGNT). BuyCoins Pro's differentiating feature was an order book aimed at professional traders, with limit, market and escrowed order types. One critique noted that despite a stated pan-African, borderless mission, BuyCoins Pro supported only one African currency, the Nigerian naira.

Technology

The products are built on blockchain and crypto rails, using decentralised networks for peer-to-peer transfers and real-time settlement outside traditional banking channels to lower transaction costs and speed up remittances. Supported assets have included Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, USDC and USDT, plus NGNT, a collateral-backed Naira stablecoin. BuyCoins Pro implemented an electronic order book with limit, market and escrowed order types.

Go-to-market

Distribution has been direct-to-consumer through Android and iOS apps and web platforms, with signup requiring only a Nigerian bank account or debit card at launch. Growth tactics included a Q1 2020 referral program for P2P services that drove a large increase in signups before being closed due to abuse. Sendcash Pay extends the company's reach through developers embedding borderless payments in their own products.

African diaspora members sending money home; individuals and businesses in Africa trading, investing in and managing cryptocurrency; professional and high-volume traders (via the former BuyCoins Pro order book); and developers integrating borderless payments through Sendcash Pay.

Geography

Y Combinator lists the company in London, United Kingdom; other directories place its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. Operations have centred on Nigeria, with naira-based deposits, withdrawals and the NGNT stablecoin, while Sendcash targets African diaspora senders remitting to the continent.

History

The company began as Bitkoin, launched on 1 October 2017 by Timi Ajiboye and Ire Aderinokun as a cryptocurrency exchange with local payment processing for African traders. It received undisclosed funding from Microtraction in June 2018 and joined Y Combinator's Summer 2018 batch. In July 2018 Bitkoin was rebuilt as BuyCoins, supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash with no extra charges plus P2P transactions, accessible to anyone with a Nigerian bank account or debit card via Android and iOS apps; a $120,000 seed capital raise was announced in August 2018. In 2020 the company dealt with two setbacks: a P2P referral program was abused by more than 1,000 users registering multiple identities and was closed on 6 June 2020, and on 8 June 2020 users exploited an app glitch to withdraw large amounts of Ethereum and Litecoin to Binance accounts, prompting widespread account restrictions. The Central Bank of Nigeria's February 2021 ban on financial institutions serving crypto exchanges cut off direct naira deposits and withdrawals, which the company routed around with P2P NGN transfers. In its fourth year BuyCoins reorganised under a new parent company, Helicarrier, marked by a 'State of The Union' event on 30 October 2021, with products split into BuyCoins, BuyCoins Pro, Sendcash, Sendcash Pay and NGNT. Between December 2023 and March 2024 Helicarrier discontinued BuyCoins Pro, giving users three months to withdraw or migrate funds.

Risks & controversies

In Q1 2020 a referral program was gamed by more than 1,000 users signing up with multiple identities, leading to restricted accounts and the program's closure on 6 June 2020. On 8 June 2020 users exploited an app glitch to withdraw large amounts of Ethereum and Litecoin to Binance accounts; the CEO said funds were safe and the glitch was removed, but broad account restrictions caused user backlash. In February 2021 the Central Bank of Nigeria barred financial institutions from serving crypto exchanges, blocking direct naira deposits and withdrawals. Accounts of the BuyCoins Pro shutdown cite the cybersecurity breach and mounting CBN restrictions as factors, and note the platform's dependence on a single African currency.