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In This Issue
Asia
•PROHIBITION: Taliban has crypto in its crosshairs
•ADOPTION: Indian crypto market is growing despite high taxes and market downturn: KuCoin
Latin America & The Caribbean
•USE CASE: First blockchain-issued bond pilot completed in Colombia
•EDUCATION: MBA focused on cryptofinance to be launched in Brazil
Africa
•PARTNERSHIP: Polygon and Web3 Ladies work together to increase women representation in Web3
•WEB3: Kenya Wildlife Trust and Sovereign Nature Initiative to host hackathon to address ecosystem challenges
Eastern Europe
•RUSSIAN WAR IN UKRAINE: Ukrainian Security Service seizes crypto wallet supporting Russian military operations
•MINING: Russian crypto miners fined almost 100 million rubles so far in 2022
Asia
PROHIBITION: Taliban has crypto in its crosshairs [1 minute read]
The Taliban has shutdown 16 crypto exchanges last week in Herat, Afghanistan’s third largest city, and arrested the people running them. Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the country’s central bank who banned crypto trading in May, said that digital currencies have “caused lots of problems” and are “scamming people”. Crypto adoption is growing in Afghanistan with Chainalysis ranking the country 20th out of 157 countries in its 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
ADOPTION: Indian crypto market is growing despite high taxes and market downturn: KuCoin [3 minute read]
KuCoin’s ongoing Into the Cryptoverse series released its latest report on India and despite the Indian government imposing a 30% tax on income received from crypto, the overall Indian crypto market is growing. As of June 2022, KuCoin estimates that there are approximately 115 million crypto investors in India, almost 10% of the nation, who’ve traded in the last six months and the market is expected to reach USD$241mm by 2030. Even with the current crypto market downturn, more than half of surveyed crypto investors plan to increase their crypto investments in the next six months.
Want more Asia news?
•China begins next phase of CBDC testing with e-CNY payment for public transport
•Correlation growing between crypto and equity markets in Asia, says IMF
•Iran Govt Seizes Over 9,000 Illegal Crypto Mining Devices
•Abu Dhabi to Launch Virtual Assets Strategy Aligned with Economic Objectives
Latin America and The Caribbean
USE CASE: First blockchain-issued bond pilot completed in Colombia [3 minute read]
The Financial Superintendence of Colombia (SFC) has successfully completed a pilot issuing a bond exclusively using blockchain technology. The SCF indicated that this is the first time in Latin America and the Caribbean in which blockchain technology was used for the registration, issuance, custody, negotiation, registration of payments, fulfillment, and cancellation of the bond. The $110mm bond issuance, subscribed by Banco Davivienda, was carried out on the LACChain blockchain network and acquired by IDB Invest.
EDUCATION: MBA focused on cryptofinance to be launched in Brazil [1 minute read, Portuguese]
Trading analytics firm, Nelogica, and Ibmec business school is launching a 12-month online MBA focused on cryptofinance. The objective of the MBA is to prepare professionals to identify opportunities and risks in the crypto markets. The program will integrate traditional market and financial innovation and include expert accounts and descriptions of cryptoeconomics.
Want more Latin American & Caribbean news?
•Ripple CEO does not recommend opening crypto companies in the US and says: ‘Brazil is ahead’ [Portuguese]
•Programmable money: 4 innovations that Real Digital will introduce in payment systems and access to credit [Portuguese]
•Nodle, which uses cell phones to connect to a decentralized network, plans expansion in Brazil [Portuguese]
•ABCripto assesses whether regulation brings risk of overtaxing to investors and comments on clash with foreign exchanges [Portuguese]
Africa
PARTNERSHIP: Polygon and Web3 Ladies work together to increase women representation in Web3 [1 minute read]
Ethereum Layer-2 solution, Polygon, has established a partnership with Web3 Ladies, a Lagos-based startup focused on increasing the representation of women in web3 and tech companies across Africa and around the world. Polygon will sponsor and provide mentors for the next cohort of women. Web3 Ladies has over 13,000 members in its community across Africa including South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya.
The Kenya Wildlife Trust is partnering with Amsterdam-based Sovereign Nature Initiative (SNI) to host a global online hackathon this October/November 2022 to address ecosystem management challenges. Participants are encouraged to build web3-based solutions to address (1) lion identification and data management and (2) predators and farmers conflict mitigation. The competition will take place in SNI’s metaverse and the winning team will earn a cash and coin prize of €5,000, 320 Kusama tokens, and 15,000 Ocean tokens.
Want more Africa news?
•Central Bank of Nigeria to Support 10 Startups to Help Grow eNaira Adoption
•Binance Enables Instant Deposits for the South African Rand (ZAR)
•Crypto-Friendly VC, Microtraction, Closes $15 Million Community Fund to Invest in Early-Stage African Startups
Eastern Europe
RUSSIAN WAR IN UKRAINE: Ukrainian Security Service seizes crypto wallet supporting Russian military operations [1 minute read]
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has cutoff transactions to a crypto wallet traced to a Russian citizen disguised as a volunteer who has been collecting donations to support Russian military operations. In a statement released by the SBU, a substantial amount of the donated crypto funded the purchase of military supplies for the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republic. USD$22,000 worth of cryptocurrency has been confiscated by the SBU.
MINING: Russian crypto miners fined almost 100 million rubles so far in 2022 [2 minute read]
Local power distribution companies and courts in the Siberian oblast (administrative region) of Irkutsk have already filed over 400 lawsuits and assessed almost 100 million rubles (~USD$1.7mm) in fines against illegal crypto mining operations in the region where subsidized electricity rates are as low as $0.01 per kWh in rural districts. Crypto mining in Russia is a legal gray area and is awaiting a regulatory framework to classify it as an industrial activity and tax it. The low-cost energy and very cold weather have caused a spike in energy consumption by both industrial and retail miners, allegedly leading to frequent breakdowns and outages across the region.
Want more Eastern Europe news?
•Sanctions, Disagreements Hamper Regulation of Crypto Mining in Russia, Experts Say
•While Almost 80% of Russians Know Crypto, Only 6% Understand It Well, Survey Finds
Thanks for reading and have a great week ahead!
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Written by Jon Lira. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
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