February 28, 2022

February 28, 2022

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Good morning, EmergingCrypto.io subscribers. To our readers with family and friends in Ukraine, we at EmergingCrypto.io wish them well and hope that they're staying safe amidst what's going on there.

EmergingCrypto.io Weekly Update February 20 - February 26

Eastern Europe

Image Credit: Max Kukrudziak via Unsplash

People around the world donate more $4.4 million in Bitcoin to support the Ukrainian military

In the midst of chaos as Russia starts a war with Ukraine, Bitcoin hodlers from around the world donated more than $4.4 million in Bitcoin to the Ukrainian non-governmental organization, Come Back Alive, who is providing support to Ukraine's military. On Twitter the Ukrainian government asked the world for donations, and the peer-to-peer nature of Bitcoin allows anyone in the world send donations to organizations who have their own Bitcoin wallet. However, the Ukrainian government itself is not accepting Bitcoin donations directly. (Read on EmergingCrypto.io; Read on Bitcoin Magazine) 

Russian miners uninterrupted as war begins in Ukraine

Meanwhile, in Mother Russia, the third largest Bitcoin mining country, miners continue to operate uninterrupted during the country's military invasion of Ukraine. How the Russian war with Ukraine will impact miners is unclear, especially as western countries like the United States and the UK apply sanctions on Russia. However, it's possible it may not have any impact at all given the decentralized nature of Bitcoin and there is speculation that this war could result in a surge of crypto activity from Russia as a means to evade western sanctions. Bitcoin sceptics have been emboldened by this idea, indicating that Bitcoin can also be used as a tool by dictators and agitators. (Read on EmergingCrypto.io; Read on Cointelegraph)

Asia

Image Credit: Farid Rrshad via Unsplah

How crypto is traded in Afghanistan

After Kabul fell to the Taliban last year the country was shutoff from international financial services, remittance providers like Western Union were cut off and cryptocurrencies became a lifeline to many Afghans. Subsequently many Afghans began to learn more about blockchain technology. Furthermore, Afghanistan was ranked 20th in Chainalysis' 2021 Global Crypto Adoption index, and ranked 7th for peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange trade volume. Crypto transactions in Afghanistan are not easy though. Today in order for an Afghani to get crypto they need to go to a crypto dealer and exchange it for the local fiat, afghanis, or US dollars. In order for the dealer to get the crypto, he needs to contact someone outside of Afghanistan to send crypto to his wallet. From there in order to deposit the money to the sender’s bank account the dealer usually uses a hawala system, "an informal funds transfer system that allows for the transfer of funds from one person to another without the actual movement of money. It is a simple process that requires no documentation and, therefore, is an anonymous system of moving money (Investopedia). The dealer then sends the crypto to the customer’s wallet address. As of right now the Taliban hasn't announced any regulation or ban on crypto. (Read on EmergingCrypto.io; Read on Cointelegraph) 

Crypto-based fundraising illegal in China

If the Chinese Communist Party hasn't made it clear already that they're not a fan of crypto, the country's supreme court last week revised its judicial interpretation for illegal fundraising to include crypto as reported by the China News Network's official account on Baidu. The law comes into affect on March 1, 2022 and anyone found to be fundraising from crypto would face criminal penalty. Actions like this are familiar in China and come on the heels of their blanket ban on all crypto-related activities in 2021. (Read on EmergingCrypto.io; Read on Cointelegraph)

Africa

Image Credit: @celo_esp via Twitter

Celo accomplishes 100 million testnet transactions and 95 million mainnet transactions

The mobile-first blockchain focused on emerging markets, Celo, revealed last week that it's testnet recorded a 100 million transactions milestone and it's mainnet recorded 95 million transactions. Quite the accomplishment for the blockchain whose on a mission to provide access to financial services to anyone without or limited access by introducing crypto transactions to billions of smartphone users. In addition, it's one of the most affordable blockchains available with an average transaction cost $0.005405. Average transaction costs for Ethereum and Bitcoin are roughly $21.41 and $1.57 respectively. Polygon and Solana's transaction costs are lower at $0.00265 and $0.00025 respectively. The Celo ecosystem includes a decentralized, proof-of-stake blockchain technology stack (Celo Platform), a native asset (CELO), stable coins (e.g. cUSD and cEUR), and the Celo Foundation’s Alliance for Prosperity, with over 130 organizations around the world participating. (Read on EmergingCrypto.io; Read on BitKE) 

Congolese Web3 Startup, Jambo, Raises $7.5 Million in Seed Round

The three month old African Web3 superapp, Jambo, announced on Twitter that they raised $7.5 million in a seed round to fund operations, help support its objective of connecting millions of African users to the world's Web3 applications, and test its app to be a one-stop-shop app for services like ride-hailing, banking, communication and food delivery. Co-Founder and CEO, James Zhang, told CoinDesk that the company's first goal is to provide education to young Africans about Web3 and the financial opportunities it offers. One of their target audiences is university students and since January the company reported to have already signed up over 12,000 students across 15 countries for a Web3 curriculum. Jambo is exploring to introduce a play-to-earn revenue sharing model similar to Axie Infinity's model and they're testing 10 games to be released in the next couple of months, providing Africans with new income-generating opportunities. Per Zhang, "[Anything] that helps in Africa – send money, save money, make money – is what we’re testing off of the super app.“ (Read on EmergingCrypto.io; Read of BitKE)

Latin America

Image Credit: Jeremy Bezanger via Unsplash

Coinbase plans to expand into Latin America

Coinbase has its sights set on expanding into Latin America and is looking to hire a Regional Managing Director for the region. The future director will be the face of the American giant in LATAM and lead Coinbase in an already crowded field of competitors with an established user base. Two of Latin America's largest exchanges, Brazil's Mercado Bitcoin and Mexico's Bitso, already have over 3 million and 4 million users respectively. Nevertheless, Latin America is a region not to be overlooked given the rate of crypto adoption across the region. Four of the top 20 countries on Chainalysis 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index were from Latin America. (Read on EmergingCrypto.io; Read on Blocknews) 

Brazil's 'Movers and Shakers' in blockchain and crypto

Rounding of this week's newsletter is our focus on Brazil, one of Latin America's most crypto friendliest countries. Last week Cointelegraph highlighted 10 of Brazil's most influential people in its bustling blockchain and crypto economy who are leading some of the country's most interesting projects including Bitcoin exchanges, its Central Bank's Digital Real project, crypto education, and tokenization. A great read to catch up on the who's who and the top projects in Brazil. (Read on EmergingCrypto.io; Read on Cointelegraph)

Thanks for reading and have a great week ahead!