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All the emerging market blockchain & crypto news you need in less than 5 minutes
In This Issue
Asia
•ADOPTION: MENA is the fastest growing region in the world for crypto
•MARKET ENTRY: Binance receives permanent license to operate in Kazakhstan
Eastern Europe
•SANCTIONS: EU tightens sanctions on Russia, bans all payments to European wallet providers
•RUSSIAN WAR IN UKRAINE: Pro-Russia groups using crypto to raise funds for paramilitary operations
Latin America and The Caribbean
•CBDC: Brazil’s Central Bank guarantees that the Digital Real will not spy on people
•MINING: Pilot project in Patagonia is mining crypto with flared gas
Africa
•PAYMENTS: Bank of Namibia will allow crypto-payments
•PARNTERSHIPS: Canadian mining company partners Lux Network to tokenize Uranium in Africa
Asia
ADOPTION: MENA is the fastest growing region in the world for crypto (5 minute read)
Middle East & North Africa (MENA)-based users received $566 billion in cryptocurrency from July 2021 to June 2022 according to Chainalysis, making MENA the fastest growing region for blockchain and crypto adoption. Reasons for its growth include remittance payments, savings preservation due to inflation, and permissive crypto regulation. Tukey is the largest market in MENA, transacting almost USD $200B, however, Egypt had the highest growth year-over-year, growing 221.7%.
MARKET ENTRY: Binance receives permanent license to operate in Kazakhstan (1 minute read)
In another move by Kazakhstan to become a regional crypto hub, the country’s AIFC Financial Services Authority (AFSA) granted Binance a permanent license to operate in Central Asia’s largest country. The license gives Binance the status of a regulated platform in Kazakhstan. Binance will roll out a variety of services overtime but will begin to offer consumers and businesses digital asset exchange and conversion services, deposit and withdrawal of fiat currencies, cryptocurrency custody, and exchange trading.
Want more Asia news?
•Three Arrows Capital’s NFT collection to be liquidated
•Do Kwon denies prosecutors froze $67mn of his cryptocurrency assets
•Asia’s crypto craze spurs swath of fund launches
•Mt. Gox trustee sets registration deadline of Jan. 10 for repayment selection
•S.Korea’s parliament audit on Terra-LUNA falls short of expectations
Eastern Europe
SANCTIONS: EU tightens sanctions on Russia, bans all payments to European wallet providers (2 minute read)
The EU has introduced additional measures to sanction Russia including a sweeping ban on providing any crypto service to Russians outside the EU. Previous sanctions enacted earlier this year capped payments to European wallet providers at €10K. Last week’s sanctions now bans payments to “all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet” according to a European Commission statement.
RUSSIAN WAR IN UKRAINE: Pro-Russian groups using crypto to raise funds for Russian paramilitary operations (3 minute read)
Crypto fundraising via the Telegram messaging app is being used by pro-Russia paramilitary groups to prop up their operations and evade US sanctions, according to research by TRM Labs. As of September, fundraising groups have raised $400,000 in cryptocurrency since the start of the invasion in February for items like radios, thermal imaging equipment, and drones. One of the paramilitary groups identified is Task Force Rusich, a US sanctioned group that the US Treasury has described as a “neo-Nazi paramilitary group that has participated in combat alongside Russia’s military in Ukraine.”
Want more Eastern Europe news?
•The State Duma Committee will ask Parliament to reject the bill on mining (Russian)
•Russian companies have started cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency (Russian)
•Russia blocks OKX website for alleged unreliable financial information: Reports
•In Russia, the first CFAs for baskets of precious metals were released (Russian)
•The Ministry of Finance reported that it has not yet agreed with the Central Bank on the regulation of the cryptocurrency market (Russian)
Latin America and The Caribbean
Brazil, the leading Latin American country for CBDC development, has recently been criticized that its design may include mechanisms to control and spy on people. During an event held last month in São Paulo, the director of the National Federation of Central Bank Server Associations (Fenasbac), Rodrigoh Henriques, denied that accusation and said, “Brazilians are not Chinese, they do not accept a level of monetary interference like that of China.” During the same event, the Head of the Cyber Security and Technological Innovation Office of the Central Bank, Aristides Cavalcante Neto, discussed the functionality that Brazil’s future CBDC may have including smart contracts for financial transactions linked to the transfer of ownership of assets that guarantees payment after the delivery of goods.
MINING: Pilot project in Patagonia is mining crypto with flared gas (2 minute read, original article in Spanish)
Electricity generator, YPF Luz, has developed a pilot project to use flared natural gas to mine for cryptocurrencies in the Loma Campana area of Vaca Muerta in Northern Patagonia, Argentina. Unnamed international crypto miners install modular crypto mining equipment mounted in containers near the hydrocarbon production wells and can add and move the equipment to other wells as needed. Using flared gas is considered to be an innovative use case to convert wasted energy being burned in the atmosphere to power crypto mining equipment.
Want more Latin American & Caribbean news?
•Credix launches liquidity pool and Transfero provides Credix LP private debt token (Portuguese)
•GoLedger wins, for the second time, Petrobras’ innovation program (Portuguese)
•Banks bet on ‘investor security’ to conquer Brazilian crypto market (Portuguese)
•São Paulo court decides that cryptocurrencies can be pawned for debt payment (Portuguese)
•Binance announces opening of offices in SP and RJ (Portuguese)
Africa
PAYMENTS: Bank of Namibia will allow crypto-payments (1 minute read)
As crypto adoption continues to spread throughout Africa, the Bank of Namibia (BON), the country’s central payment, is allowing merchants and buyers to accept crypto as payment at their own discretion. Although cryptocurrencies continue to not have legal tender status in Namibia, the BON is bringing in cryptocurrencies and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) under its Fintech Regulatory Framework and sandbox. The BON will consider amending laws and regulations to be inclusive of VASPs and cryptocurrencies as the local market continues to develop.
PARNTERSHIPS: Canadian mining company partners with Lux Network to tokenize Uranium in Africa (2 minute read)
Mining and exploration firm, Madison Metals, is creating the first Uranium-backed NFT and signed a 5-year exclusive agreement with the Lux Network, a blockchain integrated with regulated and licensed money transmitters to tokenize assets. Over the next five years Madison Metals will tokenize and mint NFTs from its uranium projects in Namibia. Lux will initially tokenize 7.65 million pounds of the uranium and the sale of the tokens will raise funds for Madison Metals to advance compliant resource/reserve figures, engineering and economic studies, and mining.
Want more Africa news?
•A Chat with Founder, Machankura – The First Bitcoin USSD Service in Africa
•ETHSafari – Showcasing Kenyan Entrepreneurs Building on Web3
•The First Africa Bitcoin Conference Begins On December 5th
•We Do Not Want a Wild West Crypto Scenario Similar to the Digital Credit Space, Says Governor, Central Bank of Kenya
Thanks for reading and have a great week ahead!
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Written by Jon Lira. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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