📌 Emerging Onchain This Week #15
This week, we bring you African crypto updates & data from countries including Botswana, Nigeria, South Africa and the broader Sub-Saharan Africa region.
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- Botswana President touts Blockchain Immutability for Transparency
In a statement given at the FACETS 2023 conference, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi stated that “Blockchain technology, with its immutable ledger, can provide consumers with the guarantee that their diamonds have been ethically sourced.”
Botswana is Africa’s highest diamond producer in volume and value, with approximately 40% of the continent’s production coming from there. In 2022, they produced $24.5 million worth of diamonds. The President further stated the ability for consumers to make informed decisions & that it encourages responsible supply chain practises.
- The Bank of Ghana builds the eCedi, a token-based CBDC
Ghana's new CBDC, the eCedi, is a token-based digital currency built on the Hedera Hashgraph network. Due to it being token-based, the eCedi will be stored locally on a card or mobile phone, instead of an externally managed account.
Still in its development phase, the eCedi is expected to still be accessible when offline. The Bank of Ghana had announced a 12 week hackathon with the aim of exploring various CBDC use cases. The bank believes the eCedi has the potential to revolutionise the way that people pay for goods and services in Ghana. Production and distribution will all be handled by the Bank of Ghana.
- VALR partners with Visa
South African crypto exchange VALR, has announced its partnership with Global payments giant Visa, to issue Visa cards. VALR customers will be able to make and receive payments globally using their crypto assets.
The VALR Visa card is expected to be available in early 2024. It is still unclear what the fees and requirements will be, but both companies have said they are committed to making the card affordable and accessible to everyone.
- VIBRA could be Pivoting away From Africa
VIBRA, a crypto trading app created by the African Blockchain Lab, shut down its Nigeria operation in July 2023, Kenya & Ghana followed soon after. African Blockchain Lab had previously raised $6M in pre-series A funding. Vincent Li, VIBRA's co-founder, said the business is currently undergoing a pivot but did not share more details.
Employees were told to either resign or be fired, while users were informed of the discontinuation of “VIBRA Africa” via the telegram group. This closure follows the trend of closures and downsizing of web3 startups in Africa like Pillow and Lazerpay. Nigeria’s Vella has also recently announced a pivot away from crypto.
- Patricia’s Escrow Trustee calls it Quits
Nigerian crypto company Patricia is facing challenges in repaying customer funds. This comes after escrow trustee DLM Trust, abruptly ended its partnership with the company, a day after the official partnership announcement. The trustee cited "multiple breaches in the terms and conditions of agreement and trust" as a reason for the withdrawal.
Patricia, which has been struggling to regain customer trust since losing $2M in a hack last year, denies these claims, maintaining their commitment to repaying customer funds. The unilateral conversion of customer assets to tokens without user consent has also raised legal concerns. Should Patricia fail to come up with a new plan that appeases customers, it may face further damage to its reputation & credibility.
- Idris Elba partners with Stellar Development Foundation
With the goal of exploring the blockchain’s ability to solve financial inclusion issues, British actor Idris Elba has partnered with the parent company of open-source Stellar network, Stellar Development Foundation. Seen here in the ‘Where Blockchain Meets the Real World’ campaign, he believes the shift to crypto-based finance could could be transformative for the continent.
Although precise details on the partnership have yet to be disclosed, it does seem centred around using Idris’ stellar influence to make financial technology accessible to a much wider audience.
Product Launch
- CELO Launches community-funded Credit Collective
Celo has launched the Credit Collective; this aligns with the Celo Foundation’s mission of the creation of an accessible global financial system and promoting financial inclusion through blockchain technology. Through a governance proposal, the community voted to fund the Collective with 2M cEUR.
The Credit Collective is developed by Flori Ventures co-founder Tomer Bariach and Masaryk Ventures co-founder Reuven Palatnik. It is made up of members across the Web2 and Web3 credit ecosystems. There is a total of up to 25 members collectively in Bridging Liquidity Gaps, Lending and Borrowing, Developing Future Solutions and Digitizing RWAs for Efficiency
- G20 Accepts Regulatory Crypto Roadmap
The G20 2023 Summit held in India on September 9th-10th, saw the IMF & the Financial Stability Board (FSB) roadmap being accepted by the African Union and the G20 countries. Titled the ‘IMF-FSB Synthesis Paper: Policies for Crypto-Assets’, the paper gives regulatory recommendations and advanced policies to identify then respond to the macroeconomic and financial stability risks associated with crypto-assets.
Led by Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF underscored the importance of digital assets in the shaping of a sustainable and prosperous global economy.
- Judge orders Ryder Ripps to pay Yuga Labs over Intellectual Property
US District Judge John Walter, has said NFT artist Ryder Ripps and his business associate Jeremy Cahen, infringed on the trademarks of Yuga Labs’ and caused consumer confusion. They have been ordered to pay $1.57 million (plus legal fees) to Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creator Yuga Labs.
The satirical NFT collection 'Ryder Ripps Bored Ape Yacht Club', was created in May 2022. Ryder and Jeremy have said its creation was to shed light on BAYC’s promotion of Nazi symbols and alt-right ideology in the artwork. Judge Walter believes making the defendants give up their profits would stop them from continuing to step on the Yuga Labs’ trademarks.
- Solana Labs launches Incubator Program
To help startups scale on the Solana network, Solana labs has launched an incubator program. It will provide interested & sustainable technical founder teams with fundraising, engineering and go-to-market strategy support. It will also assist with specifically tailored life cycle support. The exact amount of monetary support is yet to be announced.
Solana Labs product manager Emon Motamedi, says products in both Web2 and Web3 can come with technical and operational hurdles in the building and execution areas. This program is specifically for Web3 startups to overcome these challenges, with the help of Solana’s knowledge & experience.
Many countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region have struggled with rising inflation and debt as well as FX controls. Interestingly stablecoins (one method to counter these challenges) accounted for over 50% of transaction value.
The now-published Chainalysis report also ranked Nigeria as 2nd in its global crypto adoption index with Morocco the only other African country in the top 20.
The Official Chainalysis 2023 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report
Stablecoins Essay by Steven Boykey Sidley written for the Daily Maverick
The G20 & AU accepted IMF-FSB Synthesis Paper: Policies for Crypto-Assets
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