⛓ Tencent's Blockchain NOT for Crypto, 🌍 Celo & Opera Partner To Boost Africa's Stablecoin Access, 🪪Brazil's 2M Blockchain IDs

September 23, 2023

Your 5 minute emerging markets web3 weekly update

In This Issue

Asia
🔸Tencent-Owned WeBank's Blockchain Evolution: Efficiency, Scalability, and No Cryptocurrencies
🔸Hong Kong's $127.8 Million Crypto Fraud Bust: Online Influencer Among Six Arrested

Africa
🔸Celo Partners With Opera Browser to Enable Stablecoin Access in Africa
🔸Kenyan Women Lead Africa in Crypto Ownership: Report

Latin America and the Caribbean
🔸2 Million Blockchain-Verified ID Cards Issued in Brazil, 49% Of the Country Covered
🔸Brazil's Central Bank Demonstrates Blockchain's Speed, Programmability, and Efficiency with Successful Drex Pilot

Eastern Europe
🔸90% Say No to Digital Ruble Salaries, Survey Reveals
🔸No Strings Attached: National Biometric Collection Efforts Unrelated to Digital Ruble Project

Catch up on the latest episodes and clips from the second season of the EmergingVoices Podcast on YouTube!

Asia

Image Credit: Midjourney

Tencent-founded WeBank, one of China's major digital-only banks, is exploring the concept of an "Open Consortium Chain 2.0" to tap into web3 opportunities despite China's stance against cryptocurrency and public blockchains. The bank, known for its permissioned consortium blockchain, aims to transition towards more public and open blockchains while acknowledging the efficiency and scalability of permissioned blockchains, which are easier to supervise in the Chinese regulatory context. While WeBank shares similarities with Hedera and Klaytn in embracing openness, its current permissioned blockchain prioritizes efficiency and scalability, boasting over 400 million processed transactions and approximately 30 blockchain applications, all without involving cryptocurrencies.

Hong Kong police have arrested six individuals, including online influencer Joseph Lam, in connection with a suspected cryptocurrency fraud case involving over 1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($127.8 million) worth of virtual assets. The arrests followed a warning from Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission about JPEX, a cryptocurrency trading platform, which had allegedly engaged in fraudulent activities, including falsely promoting itself as a licensed platform and offering unrealistically high returns. JPEX suspended trading after the arrests were announced, signaling Hong Kong's commitment to regulating the cryptocurrency space and protecting investors.

Africa

Image Credit: Midjourney

Opera browser has introduced MiniPay, a blockchain-based wallet developed on the Celo blockchain, aiming to provide easy and cost-effective stablecoin transactions for its African user base. MiniPay is integrated into the Opera Mini browser and enables affordable stablecoin transactions using mobile phone numbers and addresses the common issue of key management complexity by automatically backing up users' keys in Google Drive, facilitating wallet recovery if the phone is lost or the app is reinstalled. This move aims to provide more accessible and transparent digital finance solutions for users in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa, who have expressed concerns about high fees, service reliability, and access to mobile data in existing payment systems.

Kenya ranks third globally and first in Africa in terms of 'crypto equality,' with 42% of crypto ownership attributed to women. The study aimed to investigate gender representation in the crypto and blockchain sector, particularly in leadership roles, and its impact on overall engagement and interest in cryptocurrency. These findings suggest that women in developing economies are turning to cryptocurrency to supplement income in regions with limited economic opportunities for women; however, the report also highlighted gender disparities in leadership roles within the crypto industry, where only 6% of CEOs and 22.4% of leadership positions are held by women among the top 50 blockchain companies. Tap here to access the full report.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Image Credit: Midjourney

Brazil has issued nearly 2 million new national ID cards with blockchain data confirmation using the b-Register system from the Federal Revenue Service, which is based on the Hyperledger blockchain platform. Currently, 12 states in Brazil are issuing the new ID cards, covering 49% of the population, with the aim of using blockchain technology to enhance security, prevent fraud, and integrate data systems with existing IDs issued by the Public Security Secretariat (SSP) and the Federal Revenue Service. States that have not yet adopted the new system will have until November 6 to do so, with the goal of having 100% of Brazil's IDs issued with blockchain validation.

The Central Bank of Brazil conducted a successful pilot for the first purchase and sale transactions of fictitious Federal Public Securities (TPFfs) on the Drex (CBDC) platform, demonstrating the advantages of blockchain technology in terms of speed and programmability. Using Hyperledger Besu, the pilot phase involved banks such as Banco Inter, BV, Banco do Brasil, and cooperatives like Sicoob, Sicredi, Ailos, Cresol, and Unicred. During the tests, the use of smart contracts enabled faster and more efficient purchase and sale operations of National Treasury Bills (LTNs) and Financial Treasury Bills (LFTs) between banks, and showcasing the potential for quick, programmable, and simplified asset trading between financial institutions on the Drex network.

Eastern Europe

Image Credit: Midjourney

A recent survey conducted has given us a glimpse into the sentiment held by Russian residents of the Lipetsk region towards Russia's CBDC, the digital ruble, and skepticism is growing. 90% of the region's employed residents are unwilling to receive their full salary in digital rubles, a significant increase from the 68% recorded a year ago, and the study reveals that opposition to the digital ruble is highest among administrative personnel (64%) and finance professionals (60%), while marketers are more open to the idea (26%). The main reasons cited for opposition to the digital ruble include a lack of understanding about its usage (41%), concerns about scams (40%), and distrust of new technologies (38%).

Russia’s Central Bank has clarified that its digital ruble (CBDC) project is distinct from state-led biometric data collection efforts, addressing concerns of potential fraud attempts. While Russia has implemented the Unified Biometric System for data collection, it is unrelated to the digital ruble project, and both initiatives are voluntary. Despite this clarification, over 50 million Russian citizens have voluntarily submitted their biometric data, with less than 1% refusing to participate, according to Yuri Shabano from the Russian Ministry of Digital Development's Digital Identification Technology Department.

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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