šŸƒšŸ»šŸš“Time has finally run out for Do Kwon

March 25, 2023

Your 5 minute emerging market web3 weekly update

In This Issue

Asia
šŸ”øTime Has Run Out for Do Kwon, Finally Caught in Montenegro
šŸ”øIndia's CBDC Could Allow Users to Erase Transactions

Latin America and the Caribbean
šŸ”øFrom Farm to Chain: How Peruā€™s Agricultural Sector Is Adopting Blockchain Technology
šŸ”øReady to Compete Against Binance, Coinbase Officially Enters Brazil

Africa
šŸ”øNigeria's Demonetization Policy Sparks Surge in CBDC Use
šŸ”øPan-African Bank in Final Stages of Negotiations to Join Contour for Trade Financing Digitization in Africa

Eastern Europe
šŸ”øUkrainian Cyber Police Joins Forces With Startup to Tackle Crypto-Linked War Financing
šŸ”øDigital Ruble Testing to Begin Soon, Says Bank of Russia

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Asia

Image Credit: Midjourney

Do Kwon has been arrested in Montenegro and his identity has been confirmed through fingerprint matching by Interpol's national central bureau in Seoul. The South Korean crypto entrepreneur is wanted in the United States and South Korea on charges of fraud and other crimes related to his TerraUSD stablecoin and Luna coin, which lost their value in May 2022, wiping out around $40 billion from the cryptocurrency market. Kwon was arrested at the airport in the capital, Podgorica, with fake documentation and is wanted by several countries, including Singapore.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is proposing a new law that would enable users of its digital currency to erase any transactions from the ledger while ensuring their anonymity. The move is aimed at safeguarding privacy in the CBDC system, and the RBI is seeking support from the finance ministry to introduce legislation that permits customers to erase their transaction details. India is conducting both retail and wholesale digital currency pilots, with the retail pilot currently active in 15 cities and over 100,000 customers and 13 banks participating.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Image Credit: Midjourney

Peru's agricultural exports in 2022 increased by 5.6% to $628 million, partly due to the implementation of blockchain technology. Several Peruvian companies are using blockchain to register and verify the production of organic food, which allows for traceability of the origin, quality, and production process of products. The use of blockchain has also allowed Peruvian producers to prove the authenticity of their products, increase participation in the international market, and improve transparency and trust in the food supply chain.

Coinbase has officially launched in Brazil, offering its services to a market largely dominated by Binance. The exchange has integrated with PIX, Brazil's instant payment system, and will offer access to 243 cryptocurrencies, staking, the Coinbase NFT marketplace, its self-custodial Coinbase Wallet, and a Brazilian Real wallet for storing funds in fiat. Coinbase views Brazil as an exciting market due to its developers and its large population of crypto users.

Africa

Image Credit: Midjourney

Nigeria's eNaira CBDC has seen a resurgence in use due to the country's demonetization policy which has left many people searching for alternative payment channels. The value of eNaira transactions has increased by 63% to 22 billion naira ($47.7m) since its introduction and the number of wallets has jumped by over 12 times to 13 million, according to Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. More than 10 billion eNaira has been minted so far, with about 3.4 billion eNaira in circulation, Emefiele said.

Pan-African Bank in Final Stages of Negotiations to Join Contour for Trade Financing Digitization in Africa (2 minute read)

Pan-African ABSA Corporate and Investment Bank is finalizing negotiations with Contour to join its R3 Corda-based network of banks, corporates, and trade partners digitizing trade financing documents. The deal will enable ABSA clients to adopt a fully digital end-to-end Letter of Credit settlement process. Carl Wegner, CEO at Contour, said, ā€œAfrica is an emerging and exciting opportunity for trade finance digitization, especially with the promise of AfCFTA in creating the first continent-wide free trade area," which is predicted to boost intra-Africa trade by 52.3% and expand the size of the continentā€™s economy to $29tn by 2050.

Eastern Europe

Image Credit: Midjourney

Ukrainian start-up HAPI Labs is partnering with Ukraine's cyber police to freeze wallets linked to financing Russian troops invading Ukraine. HAPI Labs has launched Scamfari OSINT, a platform enabling users to report cryptocurrency wallets associated with scams, terrorism financing, sanctions violations, and other criminal activities. The project has already attracted over 15,000 submissions since its launch last week.

Digital Ruble Testing to Begin Soon, Says Bank of Russia (2 minute read, Russian)

The Bank of Russia is set to start testing real payments using the digital ruble once a regulatory framework is established. The regulator is ready to launch a pilot project in April but stressed the need for legal basis before real people participate in it. The limited pilot will involve 13 banks and test basic operations such as wallet opening, transfers, payments for purchases and services using a QR code, and refunding funds.

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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