Easy Crypto launches world’s first te reo Māori crypto platform

Easy Crypto founder and CEO Janine Grainger has set out to make crypto inclusive and accessible since she launched her cryptocurrency platform. So translating the content on the platform into te reo Māori – a world first for a crypto site – feels like a natural step.

The CEO of New Zealand’s largest cryptocurrency platform has shaken up convention since she set up Easy Crypto with her brother, Alan Grainger, in 2018. With a focus on diversity, it has an 80 per cent female board, 50 per cent female executive, and nearly a third of its tech team staff are women (despite it being a male-dominated industry).

Easy Crypto is now the country’s biggest cryptocurrency marketplace, with $2.2 billion traded on the exchange by more than 250,000 users.

Grainger recently completed a full-year immersion te reo Māori course, which was part of her motivation to offer the content in te reo, produced in partnership with the Māori software translation business Whakamāori.

Launched this week in time for Māori Language Week/Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, the move is important to honour and recognise te reo Māori as one of New Zealand’s official languages, says Grainger.

With 10 percent of Kiwis owning bitcoin assets, she says: “Easy Crypto would like to see all segments of our population become part of this growing user base and as a Kiwi company, our investment in a reo Māori version of our website for 17 percent of the population with Māori heritage was an important part of bringing this commitment to life.”

So far, Easy Crypto has translated over 15,000 words of content into te reo Māori. A language switcher sits at the top of the site so users can choose to navigate it in either English or te reo Māori.

Easy Crypto wants to make crypto accessible to many, rather than typically skewed in favour of educated, urban, male investors. It has the most diverse client base of all New Zealand crypto sites, with more female, minority, non-urban and older users.

Grainger points to the rise and growth of Māori-run companies, and innovations in the Māori tech sector as examples of an increasingly thriving industry that Easy Crypto wants to add to. “I hope we can show inclusivity and respect for te ao Māori, to support the growth and acceptance of Māori culture as part of New Zealand’s heritage.’’

Whakamāori was co-founded in July by James Scaur, a fullstack technology developer, and te reo Māori translators. There are other te reo Māori translation services, and also, of course, Google Translate, although Scaur mentions that this can be inaccurate.

Scaur thinks the Easy Crypto project will make Bitcoin more accessible to Māori. He says: “Being the first reo crypto platform in the world should hopefully mean that Māori feel that crypto is a lot more inclusive and accessible to them. It also makes te reo more accessible to everyday New Zealanders, as they can take a website they already use and switch to reo whenever they want to practise.’’

“Māori translation isn’t just a service but a cultural necessity,’’ he adds.

Since its launch, Whakamāori has translated apps and sites for fintechs, B Corps and “companies which are focused on inclusivity and reaching a wider audience”, says Scaur.

“As a company, we are actively looking for companies that have quite wide impacts, who have the biggest chance of making reo Māori more accessible to everyday Kiwis. We like working with big brands or services that people are using all the time [which is] what we’re focusing on.’’

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James Scaur’s tips for providing users with a te reo Māori app or website

1. Free services like Google Translate can be inaccurate and best avoided when translating information like legal guarantees or payment information in te reo. 
2. Be respectful; making sure macrons are used accurately is important.
3. If you’re not using a formal translation service, get a te reo speaker to check it over.
4. Make the effort: “Even if there are some mistakes, it is still better than doing nothing; it’s still contributing to making te reo more accessible and used by everyday New Zealanders.’’

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