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In This Issue
Africa
•FUNDRAISING: East African bitcoin mining company secures $2 million in seed funding
•CBDC: Nigeria’s central bank caps cash withdraws to push adoption of the e-naira
Latin America and The Caribbean
•TOKENIZATION: Santander Brasil debuts its first digital asset operation, issues BRL 40 million in debentures
•NEW ENTRANT: Brazilian banking giant plans to enter the institutional crypto custody business
Asia
•Regulation: India assumes the G20 presidency and will lead global crypto rulemaking
•STABLECOINS: Tether will launch Offshore Chinese Yuan on the Tron blockchain
Eastern Europe
•LAW ENFORCEMENT: Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova will work together to combat money laundering and sanctions evasion using crypto
•ADOPTION: Crypto will be regulated in Russia in 2023, but not for domestic payments
Guest Post
•ANALYSIS: Self-sovereign identity market totals $550 billion
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Africa
FUNDRAISING: East African bitcoin mining company secures $2 million in seed funding (3 minute read)
Gridless, a Bitcoin mining company based in East Africa, has raised $2mm in seed funding to expand its operations across African markets. The company designs, builds, and operates bitcoin mining sites alongside small-scale renewable energy producers in rural Africa, and uses the excess electricity to power the bitcoin mining rigs. Gridless has contracted five projects in rural Kenya with HydroBox, an African hydroelectric company, three of which are currently operational. The funding round was led by Stillmark and Block, Inc, formerly known as Square and led by Jack Dorsey.
CBDC: Nigeria’s central bank caps cash withdraws to push adoption of the e-naira (2 minute read)
Nigeria’s central bank has capped over-the-counter cash withdrawals at just ₦100,000 ($225) for individuals and ₦500,000 ($1,123) for businesses per week in an effort reduce the amount of physical cash in circulation and get more people to go cashless. The central bank said the limits were in line with “the Cashless policy of the CBN.” Nigeria’s bold move to impose limits on cash withdrawals is a bid to encourage the adoption of its CBDC, the e-naira.
Want more Africa news?
•Built With Bitcoin Foundation Opens New Technology Center in Ghana
•Strike partners with Bitnob to facilitate cross-border payments into Africa
•Introducing The Green Africa Mining Alliance of Africa (GAMA)
•Bitcoin mining project in Kenya helps power rural community
Latin America and The Caribbean
Santander Brasil has taken part in its first digital asset operation by issuing BRL 40mm ($8.7mm) in debentures on behalf of parking lot manager Indigo. The operation was carried out using the Vortex QR Tokenizer OTC platform, and took place within the Securities Commission sandbox, which is testing the tokenization of securities. The bonds have a four-month term, rates have not been disclosed.
NEW ENTRANT: Brazilian banking giant plans to enter the institutional crypto custody business (4 minute read, original article in Portuguese)
Observing a gap in the market, Itaú Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Banco Itaú, is entering the institutional cryptocurrency custody business. The move comes as the crash of FTX and other high-profile crypto-market incidents have made the issue of custody especially relevant. Itaú plans to launch a pilot project in the second quarter of 2023 after it completes tests with its own bitcoin using proprietary technology.
Want more Latin America and Caribbean news?
•Paraguay Votes Down Crypto Regulatory Bill in a Blow to Crypto Mining Industry
•BC and CVM should share oversight of the crypto segment, says Nascimento (Portuguese)
•“In ten years, all assets will be digital”, says CEO of Hashdex (Portuguese)
•Rede Globo and GOL sign an alliance to neutralize carbon emissions with tokens (Spanish)
•CVM will play an active role in defining the decree on the legal framework for crypto assets, says president (Portuguese)
Asia
REGULATION: India assumes the G20 presidency and will lead global crypto rulemaking (4 minute read)
India is looking to coordinate global cryptocurrency rulemaking as it takes on the presidency of the G20. The country’s finance ministry is reportedly considering setting up a committee to engage with other G20 members and international organizations to establish a framework for cryptocurrency regulation. India has historically taken a hawkish position towards cryptocurrencies and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in favor of banning cryptocurrency usage within the country. In June 2022, RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar said that CBDCs could “kill whatever little case that could be for private cryptocurrencies.”
STABLECOINS: Tether will launch Offshore Chinese Yuan on the Tron blockchain (1 minute read)
Tether has announced that its offshore Chinese yuan stablecoin, CNH₮, will be added to the Tron blockchain. Initially launched on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token, CNH₮’s launch on Tron makes it the second blockchain on which it can be acquired, traded, and held. Bitfinex will be the first exchange to enable users to deposit and withdraw CNH₮ using Tron as the transport layer. CNH₮ is one of four fiat-pegged stablecoins that Tether supports including the U.S. Dollar (USD₮), Euro (EUR₮), and Mexican Peso (MXN₮).
Want more Asia news?
•Cryptocurrency market is ‘most mature’ in these 2 countries, new Huobi report reveals
•Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui to issue soulbound tokens to explore Web3
•Hong Kong to subject crypto exchanges to the same laws governing TradFi
•Pakistan launches new laws to expedite CBDC launch by 2025
•Temasek-backed crypto shop Amber halts expansion plans in rocky market
Eastern Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will work together to propose changes to legislation designed to combat money laundering, eliminate sanctions circumvention, and seize and confiscate illicit funds using virtual assets. The project involves representatives from law enforcement and state bodies in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, and will be aimed at improving legal acts in accordance with international standards and recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force. The project is expected to be implemented from 2022 to 2024.
ADOPTION: Crypto will be regulated in Russia in 2023, but not for domestic payments (2 minute read, original article in Russian, state media)
Russia plans to adopt a legal framework for cryptocurrencies in 2023, according to Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma committee on financial market. However, it will not be possible to use it as a means of payment for settlements within the country. Aksakov said that cryptocurrency will be used to pay for parallel imports and deliveries of goods to Russia. He added that a bill concerning the possibility of using cryptocurrencies for international payments is being negotiated, and he hopes it will be adopted either later this year or in January 2023.
Want more Eastern Europe news?
•Russia’s Largest Digital Asset Deal Denominated in Chinese Yuan
•More than 600 cases of illegal use of cryptocurrencies revealed in Ukraine (Russian)
•The State Duma announced that the bill on the digital ruble will be introduced next week
•The Ministry of Internal Affairs began to identify unscrupulous owners of crypto wallets
•The Ministry of Finance opposed the total licensing of mining
Guest Post
ANALYSIS: Self-sovereign identity market totals $550 billion (2 minute read)
Self-sovereign identity (SSI) solutions are becoming increasingly popular due to their potential for providing a user-centric and user-controlled approach to exchanging information. SSI has been used in a number of applications, including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority’s know your customers trial, the UK’s National Healthcare Service Staff Passport, and the IATA Travel Pass. This technology has the potential to be used in a wide range of industries, including banking, travel, healthcare, and metaverse. However, there is currently a lack of understanding of the total addressable market (TAM) for SSI. Cheqd’s white paper aims to establish a baseline TAM for SSI, with estimates suggesting that the potential of the SSI market totals around $0.55 trillion.
Contributed by Elina Yumasheva, Marketing & Communications Advisor for Cheqd
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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