Mara, an Africa-focused decentralized finance platform, has announced the launch of a testnet for its upcoming Mara Chain. The Ethereum-compatible layer 2 network uses MARA tokens for fees and is forked from Optimism. According to Mara CEO Chi Nnadi, “Blockchain technology has become a necessary utility and infrastructure that is critical and essential to the development of every country, similar to electricity or the internet.”
The testnet allows developers in Nigeria and across Africa to build and test their decentralized applications. It comes on the back of the recent launch of the Mara Wallet, which allows users to trade and withdraw both fiat currencies and tokens. Benefits of the Mara Chain include sub-second transactional speeds, low gas fees, and interoperability with other Optimism-based networks.
Mara is actively seeking feedback from the developer community and partners to ensure continuous improvement of the platform ahead of the mainnet launch. “By actively engaging with users, Mara aims to strengthen collaboration and create a supportive ecosystem that nurtures the growth of blockchain applications,” a Mara chain representative shared. “There are tangible rewards, bounty grants and development grants for those who work to advance and enhance the capabilities of the Mara Chain.”