Two years building Citrusrate: The Story Behind the Platform
Citrusrate
I didn’t start building Citrusrate because of the fancy founder title. I started building it because I saw a gap I could close.
The Beginning
Two years ago, we started building a Bitcoin-only version of CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko.
Bitcoin was gaining adoption across Africa, and people were showing interest. But every conversation about Bitcoin price in Africa was in dollars, not African currencies. Because of that, many people dismissed the idea that they could own Bitcoin. To them, the dollar meant Bitcoin wasn’t accessible to the masses; it was only for the rich and educated elites.
It made sense because there was no platform localizing the price of Bitcoin for major African currencies. To get the price of Bitcoin in just six African currencies, you’d have to open multiple browser tabs. You’d check CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, and several other websites just to get the official rates. Africa has 55 currencies. That was the catalyst I needed to start Citrusrate.
Shipping First, Figuring Things Out Later
Building Citrusrate has been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done.
It was my first experience building a solution for the African market. Because of my zeal to solve the problem, I started writing code and building the web app. I deployed Citrusrate with no business plan and no business experience. I remember not knowing how to monetize it because I’d never done anything like it before.
So it’s safe to say it was never about the money or the fancy founder title.
Since the first deployment, we've been innovating and evolving, building what we believe will be the biggest Bitcoin-only data platform on the continent.
Today, Citrusrate has recorded over 200,000 website visits and now receives over 11,000 monthly visitors from more than 100+ countries.
The Unexpected Validation
Last December at the Africa Bitcoin Conference, I realized we were solving a much bigger problem.
We discovered that developers and wallet providers building for African users needed accurate, real-time Bitcoin pricing data, especially black market rates for African currencies. We received interest from about several global Bitcoin wallet providers who needed an API service for this.
We got to work, built the API, and eventually landed our first paying customer. It was surreal. It felt amazing to build what companies want, making others' lives easier. We loved how that felt and are set to serve more customers.
Growing a Team of Beginners
Today, my team consists of about six people, with four of us working full-time.
One of the greatest experiences I’ve had so far has been leading this team.
We were all noobs at our roles.
It was my first time leading as a founder. It was my first time selling a service online. Five of my teammates joined while they were still in university. It was also their first time in these roles.
We kept pushing toward the goal.
We made a lot of mistakes, but we kept learning and getting better.
For example, here’s one of our graphic designs from early in the journey:
And here’s the current design by the same designer:
The growth speaks for itself.
Gradually, Then Suddenly
We’ve identified a critical infrastructure problem for Bitcoin in Africa, and I genuinely believe we’re one of the best teams positioned to solve it.
There’s enough validation now to show that what we’re building matters.
One of the biggest Bitcoin wallets today uses our API to power part of their app. Several other wallets could also sign up because they’re facing the same problem we’ve already solved.
Scaling beyond our current position is critical, but it feels almost impossible.
We need more hands. We need more funding.
But until those resources come, I’ll do what I know how to do best: be patient and keep building the foundation for the growth we need.
Like we say: gradually, then suddenly.
Thank You
Finally, thank you to the unpaid marketing team.
Whenever I posted about Citrusrate, the community made sure it spread like wildfire.
The Bitcoin Nigeria group played an important role as our marketing channel. I post updates there often, receive feedback, iterate, and improve. From there, it crossed countries and continents.
Today, we’ve recorded visitors from almost every country in the world.
We owe a lot of that to the Bitcoin community.
Thank you for every mention, every tag, every invitation, every piece of feedback, and every show of love.
Thank you all.
Ready to take control of your wealth?
Citrusrate tracks real-time Bitcoin exchange rates across African markets. Compare prices, calculate your DCA strategy, and find the best deals today.