šŸ’µBrazilā€™s New Dollar-based Stablecoin, šŸšŖBinance Enters Argentina, šŸŖ™ā›Russiaā€™s Mining Boom

April 08, 2023

Your 5 minute emerging market web3 weekly update

In This Issue

Latin America and the Caribbean
šŸ”øBrazilian Investment Bank Launches Dollar-Backed Stablecoin
šŸ”øBinance Expands Services in Inflation-Plagued Argentina

Asia
šŸ”øRegulators, Police, and Banks in Singapore Collaborate to Establish Standards for Vetting Crypto Customers
šŸ”øIndia Scaling CBDC Trials, Targeting One Million Users, Prioritizing Offline Transactions

Africa
šŸ”øThree African Blockchain Startups Selected for Swiss Blockchain Accelerator
šŸ”øCentral Bank of Nigeria Freezes Bank Accounts of Crypto Investors

Eastern Europe
šŸ”øRussia Expects International Payments to Be Based on CBDCs in the Next 5-7 Years
šŸ”øRussia Climbs to Second Place in Cryptocurrency Mining

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Latin America and the Caribbean

Image Credit: Alexandre Lallemand via Unsplash

Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual has launched its first stablecoin, BTG Dol, which is priced at 1:1 parity with the US dollar. The stablecoin is being made available through the bankā€™s digital asset platform, Mynt. According to AndrĆ© Portilho, head of Digital Assets at BTG Pactual, the stablecoin provides investors with easy access to the dollar and an option to dollarize part of their assets.

Binance, which is facing regulatory challenges in the US and elsewhere, has expanded services in Argentina to allow locals to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly with pesos. The country's high inflation rate above 100% has made cryptocurrencies more attractive despite warnings from the central bank about their volatility and risk. Previously, Binance had only served as an intermediary platform to match buyers and sellers in Argentina.

Asia

Image Credit: Charles Deluvio via Unsplash

Singapore's central bank and police are working with banks in the country to develop uniform standards for screening potential customers in the crypto and digital assets sectors, aiming to fine-tune the vetting process for opening accounts for service providers in all types of digital assets. The initiative also focuses on stablecoins, non-fungible tokens, transferable gaming or streaming credits and payments, trading, and transfer services of these assets. The move comes as the crypto industry continues to struggle for access to traditional banks, and even with the guidelines, the banks will decide whether to accept clients based on their own risk appetites.

India's retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) architects aim to scale the user base of the digital rupee to one million users, with the priority of creating an offline version. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been running both retail and wholesale CBDC pilots and is hoping to conduct offline transactions through the use of wearables, debit and credit cards, Bluetooth technology, and smartphones. The RBI has not announced a timeline for rolling out a full-scale retail CBDC but has previously indicated it was aiming for the end of the year.

Africa

Image Credit: Danny Howe via Unsplash

Switzerland-based blockchain venture capital firm, CV Labs, is currently running its fifth batch of its blockchain accelerator program, with three out of nine blockchain startups participating from Africa. The three African startups are Ivory Pay from Nigeria, Nyayomat from Kenya, and Web3 Sanctuary from South Africa. Each participant will receive up to $135,000 in capital, personalized mentorship, and tailored growth strategies, in addition to access to other funding opportunities, and the resources of the broader Swiss Crypto Valley ecosystem, considered the most established blockchain hub worldwide.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has flagged the bank accounts of Nigerian crypto investors using peer-to-peer (P2P) services due to their possible involvement in the recent Flutterwave hack that saw $6.5 million illegally transferred from the accounts of the fintech firm. While the accounts have yet to be proven to be affiliated with the hack, some P2P users have confirmed that their accounts have been frozen, causing difficulties in using over-the-counter markets for crypto transfers. The situation discourages P2P users from using over-the-counter markets, highlights the need for increased security measures and awareness in the Nigerian crypto market, and emphasizes the importance of only using reputable P2P platforms.

Eastern Europe

Image Credit: Midjourney

Olga Skorobogatova, First Deputy Chairperson of the Bank of Russia, believes that the system of cross-border settlements in Russia will be transformed in 5-7 years and may be based on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Skorobogatova stated that the digital ruble could create a new opportunity to establish a system of cross-border settlements and bypass the need for SWIFT. Skorobogatova also spoke about the regulatorā€™s plans for 2023, including testing the digital ruble platform and using Russia's real-time payments system for trade and service enterprises to use and lower their costs.

Russia has moved up to second place in the world for cryptocurrency mining, with experts attributing the increase in part to limitations on mining in Kazakhstan and China due to electricity shortages, according to BitRiver, a US-sanctioned Russian-based cryptocurrency mining hosting service. The US remains in first place but rising electricity prices and reduced profitability have led to over-leveraged companies and bankruptcies. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index currently ranks Russia 6th in global hashrate share as of January 2022, the most recent data available by the non-profit.

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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