February 18, 2023

🚓Do Kwon and Terraform Labs Sued by SEC

February 18, 2023

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Your 5 minute emerging market web3 weekly update

In This Issue

Asia🔸SEC Files Lawsuit Against Do Kwon and Terraform Labs🔸Hong Kong Government Issues World’s First Tokenized Green Bond

Africa🔸Nigeria's Cash Crisis Triggers Chaos and Protests, Driving Adoption of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies🔸RightfulShare and GoodDollar Launch Universal Basic Income Initiative Using Digital Currencies in South Africa

Latin America and The Caribbean🔸Brazil's Government Prepares Decree to Regulate Cryptocurrencies🔸Central Bank Head Says Digital Real Could Be a Significant Driver for Brazil’s Economy

Eastern Europe🔸Ukraine to Launch E-Hryvnia CBDC in 2024🔸Ukraine Hunts for the Crypto Addresses Used to Support the Russian Miliary

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Asia

Image Credit: Scott Rodgerson via Unsplash and Woohae Cho via Bloomberg

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a complaint against Singapore-based Terraform Labs and its CEO, Do Kwon, for allegedly orchestrating a cryptocurrency fraud that led to billions of dollars in losses. The complaint alleges that Terraform and Kwon raised billions of dollars from investors by selling interlinked digital securities that were not properly registered with regulators between April 2018 and May 2022. The fraud caused a $40bn loss in market value, according to the SEC, and Terraform and Kwon are accused of violating registration and anti-fraud provisions in US securities laws.

The Government of Hong Kong has announced the successful offering of its first-ever tokenized green bond under the Government Green Bond Program. The HKD-denominated, one-year Tokenized Green Bond raised HKD 800 million and was distributed by a four-bank syndicate. The settlement was on a delivery-versus-payment basis, with all bond lifecycle processes, including coupon payments and maturity redemption, being performed on Goldman Sachs' tokenization platform.

Africa

Image Credit: Benjamin Dada via Unsplash

The shortage of cash in Nigeria has led to protests and chaos, with citizens restricted to daily withdrawals of a maximum of $45, and weekly limits on bank cash withdrawals. The measure was implemented to replace the dirty cash in circulation, tackle inflation, curb counterfeiting, and promote the use of Nigeria's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-naira. CBDC adoption remains limited, with less than 0.5% of Nigerians using it, meanwhile, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have become a popular alternative, with 35% of the Nigerian population between 18 and 60 reportedly owning cryptocurrencies or exchanging them.

RightfulShare, an independent initiative led by a former South African Member of Parliament, has partnered with GoodDollar to launch an unconditional universal basic income program in South Africa using digital currencies. The GoodDollar protocol generates, funds, and distributes global basic income via the GoodDollar token (G$) which operates within the emerging ecosystem of decentralized and open finance. Alongside the basic income transfer, beneficiaries will have access to mentoring and learning opportunities including business development and Web3 education.

Latin America and The Caribbean

Image Credit: Ewan Kennedy via Unsplash

Brazil's government is preparing a decree to regulate the functioning of the country's crypto asset framework. The proposal is being prepared by teams from the Ministry of Finance, with technical support from the Central Bank and the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulators' roles have been outlined, with the Central Bank expected to be responsible for regulating and supervising the digital assets sector, while the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission will have a restricted role in regulating tokenized securities.Central Bank Head Says Digital Real Could Be a Significant Driver for Brazil’s Economy (3 minute read, Portuguese)

The president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto, said that the creation of the country's central bank digital currency, the Digital Real, will bring more efficiency and security to the country's financial system. He further stated that the implementation of digital currency can reduce costs and increase the speed of financial transactions, which could be a significant driver for the Brazilian economy. The pilot project is being carried out in partnership with several financial institutions in the country, and the first tests and issuances of the Digital Real are expected in the first half of 2023.

Eastern Europe

Image Credit: Oleksandr Brovko via Unsplash

Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation has requested the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to accelerate the development of the E-hryvnia. While the pilot project to launch the CBDC is scheduled for 2024, the ministry wants to launch it this year. The NBU had already presented a draft e-hryvnia concept to participants in the virtual assets market and representatives of banks and financial institutions in November 2022.Ukraine Hunts for the Crypto Addresses Used to Support the Russian Miliary (4 minute read, Russian)

Despite sanctions, pro-Russian supporters of the war in Ukraine have received millions of dollars in donations via cryptocurrencies. Over $1.8 million has been sent to 160 crypto wallets owned by individuals who directly support the Russian army and paramilitary groups. Much of the funds went to centralized exchanges such as Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, as well as Russia's Garantex and Bitzlato, which are suspected of handling criminal funds. In response, Ukrainian authorities are hunting down these crypto addresses in order to block the movement of funds through them.

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