December 24, 2022

šŸŒKazakhstan + Crypto = Next Great Emerging Market?

December 24, 2022

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

šŸŽHappy Holidays From EmergingCrypto.io!šŸ„‚

In This Issue

Asiaā€¢ADOPTION: Crypto may make Kazakhstan the next great emerging marketā€¢CBDC: China expands e-yuan pilot to nine more cities

Latin America and The Caribbeanā€¢TOKENIZATION: Fueling your car and buying meat will soon be done with grain and soy-backed tokensā€¢FUNDRAISING: Brazilian DeFi protocol raises $5.6 million in seed round

Africaā€¢ADOPTION: Apparently 'market conditions' and 'marketing reasons' are delaying the CAR's national token listingā€¢REGULATION: Booming retail enthusiasm has driven regulatory development in Nigeria

Eastern Europeā€¢PAYMENTS: Sanctions have driven Russia to use cryptocurrency for international paymentsā€¢EDUCATION: Ukraine's government will provide free blockchain training courses to its citizens

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Asia

Image Credit: Michael Bulcik - SKS Soft GmbH DĆ¼sseldorf via Wikimedia Commons

Nikkei Asia's big story this week spotlights the Central Asian giant, Kazakhstan, and its big bet on crypto. Kazakhstan has announced plans to attract cryptocurrency exchanges, investors, and start-ups to its capital, Astana, with a series of initiatives, including training for developers, a regulatory free zone, and "full legal recognition" for crypto. The government hopes to kick-start the country's finance and tech sectors by capitalizing on the growing crypto industry. However, the plan is risky, as it could expose the country's banks and consumers to the volatility of the cryptocurrency market. Despite this, the government hopes to create a legal, transparent exchange for crypto and fiat currency and allow people to spend them directly on goods and services as a means to increase adoption of the technology.

China has expanded its digital renminbi pilot program to Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hebei, Sichuan, Jinan, Nanning, Fangchenggang, Kunming and Xishuangbanna. Alongside the expansion, Meituan and Bank of China issued digital renminbi consumer 'red envelopes' (essentially distributing the CBDC) to residents in the pilot areas. The issuance of consumer red envelopes in the new pilot areas aim to speed up the promotion of digital renminbi in the areas, help with consumption recovery, and stimulate the local economy. The packages cover a range of online and offline consumption scenarios and can be used to order takeout, buy fresh vegetables, buy movie tickets, buy daily necessities, and buy dining coupons in stores.

Latin America and The Caribbean

Image Credit: Lukasz Rawa via Unsplash

Agrotoken, an Argentine startup, has launched a pre-financed card in Brazil that is backed by tokens representing grains produced by farmers. The token-backed card is currently being tested in a closed circuit in Brazil and Argentina. The tokens, which are minted by farmers on the Agrotoken platform, will initially be used as pre-financing for farmers, but could eventually reach the secondary market on exchange platforms. The tokens are meant to enable farmers to buy goods and services, such as tractors, seeds, and fertilizers, fuel a car, buy meat, or use them as collateral for loans.FUNDRAISING: Brazilian DeFi protocol raises $5.6 million in seed round (1 minute read, original article in Portuguese)

Pods Finance, a Brazilian decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has raised $5.6m in seed funding to create infrastructure for digital asset-based structured products. The funding took place at the beginning of the year but the announcement was only made public after Pods completed four security audits on its Yield product. Participating investors in the funding round include IOSG, Tomahawk, Republic, Framework Ventures, and 4RC.

Africa

Image Credit: Dylan Calluy via Unsplash

The Central African Republic (CAR) has announced that it has delayed its plans to list its national cryptocurrency token, the Sango Coin, on unspecified crypto exchanges due to "current market conditions" and "marketing reasons" until the first quarter of next year. In addition, the "release" that would allow coin holders to sell up to 5% of their coins, which are currently "locked" for a year, has also been delayed. The Central African Republic launched the Sango Coin in July 2021 with the goal of raising almost $1 billion over the next year, but so far only $1.66 million worth of the Sango has been sold.

The Nigerian House of Representatives is reportedly set to pass a law that will regulate digital currencies in the country. The Investments and Securities Act 2007 (Amendment) Bill, once signed into law, will enable the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to recognize cryptocurrency and other digital funds as capital for investment, and define the regulatory roles of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the SEC regarding digital currency. Nigeria is ranked 11th globally for crypto adoption, driven heavily by retail usage.

Eastern Europe

Image Credit: Fly D via Unsplash

The Bank of Russia plans to test the use of cryptocurrency for international payments in a pilot project as part of an experimental legal regime in partnership with interested market participants. The project aims to promote the use of digital financial assets, including cryptocurrency, in international payments. The Bank of Russia maintains its position on the inadmissibility of the circulation of digital currency within Russia, and opposes the legalization of cryptocurrency exchanges, exchangers, and settlements within the country. The use of cryptocurrency for cross-border settlements is driven to evade western sanctions due to Russia's war in Ukraine.EDUCATION: Ukraine's government will provide free blockchain training courses to its citizens (1 minute read, original article in Russian)

The Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation has partnered with WhiteBIT exchange, the Filecoin Foundation, and Atlantis World social metaverse to launch free blockchain courses for Ukrainians. The 100 hour program is completely free and the goal of the course is to increase crypto literacy among Ukrainians. The course topics will include the history of money and the development of blockchain and bitcoin, mining and Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithms, Ethereum and smart contracts, cold and hot crypto wallets, exchange of crypto assets, opportunities and risks of trading in the digital asset market, basics of cyber hygiene, and decentralized protocols.

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