December 12, 2022

šŸ’°Jack Dorsey's Block, Inc. funds bitcoin mining company in East Africa

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All the emerging market web3 news you need in less than 5 minutes

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In This Issue

Africaā€¢FUNDRAISING: East African bitcoin mining company secures $2 million in seed fundingā€¢CBDC: Nigeria's central bank caps cash withdraws to push adoption of the e-naira

Latin America and The Caribbeanā€¢TOKENIZATION: Santander Brasil debuts its first digital asset operation, issues BRL 40 million in debenturesā€¢NEW ENTRANT: Brazilian banking giant plans to enter the institutional crypto custody business

Asiaā€¢Regulation: India assumes the G20 presidency and will lead global crypto rulemakingā€¢STABLECOINS: Tether will launch Offshore Chinese Yuan on the Tron blockchain

Eastern Europeā€¢LAW ENFORCEMENT: Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova will work together to combat money laundering and sanctions evasion using cryptoā€¢ADOPTION: Crypto will be regulated in Russia in 2023, but not for domestic payments

Guest Postā€¢ANALYSIS: Self-sovereign identity market totals $550 billion

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Africa

Image Credit: Max Bender via Unsplash

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.

Nigeria's central bank has capped over-the-counter cash withdrawals at just ā‚¦100,000 ($225) for individuals and ā‚¦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 ā€œthe Cashless policy of the CBN.ā€ Nigeria's bold move to impose limits on cash withdrawals is a bid to encourage the adoption of its CBDC, the e-naira.

Latin America and The Caribbean

Image Credit: Drew Dau via Unsplash

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, ItaĆŗ Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Banco ItaĆŗ, 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. ItaĆŗ plans to launch a pilot project in the second quarter of 2023 after it completes tests with its own bitcoin using proprietary technology.

Asia

Image Credit: Mitul Gajera via Unsplash

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."

Tether has announced that its offshore Chinese yuan stablecoin, CNHā‚®, will be added to the Tron blockchain. Initially launched on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token, CNHā‚®'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 CNHā‚® using Tron as the transport layer. CNHā‚® is one of four fiat-pegged stablecoins that Tether supports including the U.S. Dollar (USDā‚®), Euro (EURā‚®), and Mexican Peso (MXNā‚®).

Eastern Europe

Image Credit: Wesley Tingey via Unsplash

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.

Guest Post

Image Credit: Cheqd

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 UKā€™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

New to blockchain and web3 and want to learn the basics? EmergingCrypto.io recommends this book to get your started.  Tap the image below to be redirected to Amazon.com.

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