Author: Staff

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Technology

Masa Finance and Pngme Collaborate to Extend DeFi Services to Emerging Markets.

Masa Finance, a Silicon Valley DeFi company, has announced that it is partnering with African monetary data firm Pngme to drive the adoption of DeFi credit score services in the region. 

The collaboration will provide DeFi lenders in Nigeria and Kenya with access to over 250 off-chain monetary data sources, together with credit score bureau data, to automate credit score decisions via good contracts while keeping information confidential.

Pngme is a credit score and lending platform that serves the Sub-Saharan African market, allowing digital banks and fintechs to collect and combine financial data on customers who have little data recorded about their activities and are otherwise considered credit-invisible.

This is the first time DeFi loan products and off-chain credit scoring capabilities have been brought to emerging markets and the goal of the partnership is to build critical infrastructure to promote financial inclusion. 

Masa Finance’s founder, Brendan Playford spoke on the partnership saying, “This might be a significant step toward giving many people access to credit scores.” 

With demand for DeFi and cryptocurrency on the rise in Africa, Masa is essential for on-chain lending to thrive. According to Chainanalysis, Kenya and Nigeria rank among the top 10 countries for crypto use globally with over 33 million Nigerians owning crypto. 

Masa taps into this market by allowing DeFi lenders to create decentralized lending products such as small business loans, mortgages, and microloans. 

Partnerships with platforms like Goldfinch also provide access to previously unavailable pools of cash to fund a DeFi lenders mortgage digital ledger.

In collaboration with the Celo Foundation’s DeFi for the People Initiative, Masa will debut its first DeFi credit score product on Celo. The foundation recently launched a revolutionary employer-based lending experiment in Kenya with Mercy Corps Ventures, Moola Market, and Kotani Pay.

Celo Foundation’s Technique & Innovation Director,  Nikhil Raguveera said, “Given crypto’s current growth, we envision Kenya and Nigeria as crucial areas where DeFi can deliver monetary instruments that empower folks who have been traditionally excluded from traditional monetary products,” 

Masa recently completed a $3.5 million pre-seed funding round that has allowed it to make this entry into the African market. 

Masa is also raising a Seed Round to expand the technical team’s scope and launch the protocol’s manufacturing launch, as well as perform a public token sale, scale consumers and node operators, and produce platform builders and lenders.

Users and liquidity providers can sign up for a mobile and online beta account, while developers and node operators can get started with the developer documentation.

Categories
Business

3air has launched an Africa-focused NFT marketplace

3air, a blockchain platform, recently announced the launch of its NFT marketplace for Africa. The marketplace, which is part of the 3air platform, features African Artists’ creations.

The marketplace’s purpose is to give African artists a platform to display their work and connect with collectors and fans all around the world.

The buyer mints and transactions are conducted in Binance USD (BUSD), making it simple for consumers to acquire and exchange their favorite artworks.

Artists from all around Africa can list their NFTs for free on the recently launched 3air marketplace. While NFTs will be issued on the Binance Smart Chain, they will all be cross-chain compatible, in line with 3air’s vision of a multichain future.

3air’s objective to empower African artists and help them gain exposure for their work is reflected in the establishment of the NFT marketplace.

Given the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies on the African continent, 3air is on a mission to empower millions of people in African countries through blockchain.

The 3air app and marketplace are available at https://app.3air.io/ and it is also compatible with Metamask and Wallet Connect compatible wallets such as Ledger hardware wallets.

Categories
Opinions

How Bitcoin Could Help End The War In Ethiopia.

Since November 2020, the Tigray region in Ethiopia has experienced wave after wave of conflict that has escalated and now borders on a full-on genocidal war. 

While the world was quick to rally when Ukraine was invaded less than 4 months ago, Africa’s second most populated country has had thousands killed and millions displaced for 17 months with little support and coverage. 

In these 17 months, humanitarian aid to the people in the Tigray region has been blocked as the government has cut off access to electricity, frozen all banks in the region, and shut down telecommunication services. 

An opinion editorial by Michael Abraha highlights ways in which the Bitcoin community can come in handy to help those that have been left in shambles and disenfranchised by the ongoing conflict. 

The first crucial area is awareness. The Bitcoin community is vast and constantly expanding with many celebrities and influencers in various industries. Having these figures speak out could help raise awareness and bring attention and subsequent aid to the suffering people. 

Awareness of a gap has been seen to be a driver for innovation, especially within the Bitcoin community with the example of Bitsms. 

Bitsms allows users to send Bitcoin offline by attaching a BTC wallet to a cell phone number that will use SMS text to send transactions via radio satellite. This is the kind of innovation that is crucial for the people who have been denied access to banking services. 

With more awareness and a platform to send money, relief efforts of NGOs including Omna Tigray, Tigray Action Committee and the Tigray Disaster Relief Fund can also be supported with the aim of building access and peace. 

The second and more direct way for Bitcoin to help the people of Tigray is with funding. While the crypto community donated over $50 million to Ukraine in under a month, Ethiopia has not seen anything close to this. 

The gap in funding is largely attributed to limited (and/or sometimes biased) coverage of what is happening in the region and an inability to get the funds to those who need them. 

It is no surprise that along with the electricity and banking blockages, the government of Ethiopia recently revamped its efforts to crack down on crypto with a statement reiterating that cryptocurrencies are illegal in Ethiopia as reported here.

While these blanket bans may be beneficial to the Ethiopian government forces, they end up leaving many Tigray citizens without the resources they need to survive. 

On a smaller scale, the funds can facilitate relief missions to create food and aid distribution centres in Tigray at internally displaced people (IDP) camps and neighbouring Sudan’s refugee camps. 

On a larger scale, the funds can aid in the long-term redevelopment of schools, hospitals and other community infrastructure that has been destroyed by the war. 

On top of donations, Bitcoin can fuel the economy for Tigrayans in Ethiopia, refugee camps and within the diaspora with offline education services such as Internet-in-a-Box. 

The Internet-in-a-Box is a device that allows users to download content and upload it onto multiple computers, tablets and smartphones with no internet required. Devices like these are needed in the thousands alongside the equipment needed for students to use.

Having people’s records stored digitally with blockchain tech would also protect them from the physical harm in a database that can be accessed for the rebuilding efforts when the war eventually comes to an end. 

Categories
Business

Polygon Launches Fund To Assist Terra Projects Move to Polygon.

Ethereum’s scaling platform, Polygon has announced the launch of a multi-million dollar fund to support Terra projects looking to migrate to Polygon. 

Under this initiative, a Terra-based NFT marketplace and launchpad known as OnePlanet will shift to Polygon over the next few months as the first project to be given funding. This move will make OnePlanet the dedicated marketplace for any migrated Terra NFT projects to the Polygon ecosystem. 

OnePlanet serves as a virtual meeting place for creators to showcase their NFTs while communicating and engaging with their collectors. 

In its first 3 months, OnePlanet enrolled 60 collections and since its launch in January 2021, the platform has grown and effectively established itself as a prominent launchpad and secondary marketplace for the Terra NFT ecosystem. 

With a team of about 30 highly motivated employees from Apple, Facebook, KPMG, PWC and others, OnePlanet has been providing overall infrastructure for the Terra NFT ecosystem, focusing on the utility element of NFTs and the NFT holder communities of each collection.

While hundreds of Terra-based projects and developers were left stranded following the recent collapse of the Terra ecosystem, this collaboration will help facilitate the migration of these projects to Polygon in order to enable redevelopment and community protection.

Head of Business at OnePlanet, SungMo Park highlighted, “After a turbulent few weeks for the Terra ecosystem, we recognize that our loyal community now needs a reliable, secure new home for their projects. Re-building on Polygon will add tremendous value to the OnePlanet’s partner NFT projects thanks to its stellar team, EVM compatibility, scaling facilities, and carbon-neutral network.”

The funds will finance technical migration efforts to help with the difficult task of migrating projects across chains. A collection fund will also be established to enable builders and creators to re-connect and continue to provide vital services to existing projects.

CEO of Polygon Studios, Ryan Wyatt welcomed OnePlanet to the Polygon community saying, 

“Polygon is thrilled to offer a home to the OnePanet team and wider Terra community. The project will bring immense value to the Polygon NFT ecosystem, owing to the strength of its marketplace, committee, fans, and community.”

Polygon has also established a community fund to incentivise holders to migrate their assets and cover costs incurred in transferring items onto the Polygon chain and Wyatt pointed out that Polygon intends to help builders and developers to focus on their critical work adding, 

“We’ve launched the fund to help Terra projects like OnePlanet migrate their burgeoning ecosystem to Polygon, bootstrap their recovery, and help them build back stronger than before. We will provide financial and technical support to help smooth the transition and integration and we’re excited to welcome all of these Terra projects to Polygon.”

Through this partnership, OnePlanet will be able to continue delivering the value and the roadmap envisioned by its partner NFT projects.

Categories
Business

Payouts.Cash has launched an instant remittance service to Africa

Blockchain payments startup, payouts.cash has announced the launch of their crypto product, which allows anyone to send money to African countries in under three minutes. The platform has so far been launched in Nigeria.

The main challenge with crypto adoption has always been the interoperability with fiat currencies. Payouts.cash addresses this issue by providing customers with immediate liquidity in their local currency when they receive cryptocurrency payments. Individuals can now send money using their Cash App, coin base, or crypto wallet, which is instantly converted to their local fiat currencies.

The platform is accessible to people who want to instantly trade their crypto for fiat at the best market rates, those who get paid in crypto, and those that want to send and receive money from friends and connections abroad but don’t want to lose most of their funds in fees, or aren’t ready to wait days for transactions to be processed.

While peer-to-peer (P2P) is a convenient way to send cryptocurrency payments, payouts.cash acts as the ultimate peer that provides instant and secure transfers when moving from crypto to cash. The company strives to save the consumer as much money as possible, and as a result, it is virtually the cheapest player on the market.

Here is how it works;

1. Enter the amount you want to send in USD, USDT, or BTC on the payouts.cash platform

2. Select the send option

3. Enter the recipient’s account details

4. Payouts.cash generates a crypto wallet address for just that transaction

5. Send the cryptocurrency to the copied wallet address.

6. Complete the transaction by clicking on the “I have made payment button”

7. The Fiat equivalent is automatically credited to the recipient’s account.

Payouts.cash, which is on a mission to help Africans become financially included on a global scale also provides APIs that allow payouts into Africa from anywhere in the globe. The service is now only available in Nigeria, but it has intentions to expand to Ghana, Kenya, and possibly other African countries in the future.

Categories
Business

PayPal Finally Launches a Feature to Transfer Cryptocurrency To External Wallets

Multinational financial technology company, PayPal announced yesterday that crypto users can now move funds off its platform, a long-awaited feature that will make the company’s offering more like other popular cryptocurrency services.

“Starting today, PayPal supports the native transfer of cryptocurrencies between PayPal and other wallets and exchanges,” the financial giant said in a press statement.

The announcement comes after a comment made by the PayPal Vice President at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on May 23, 2022. Richard Nash, speaking at the World Economic Forum, noted that the corporation is working hard to integrate all available digital services, including digital currencies and CBDC.

The feature will allow users to transfer and receive crypto using the app. It was rolled out to American users first and was made accessible to them yesterday.

PayPal’s cryptocurrency offering was originally launched in late 2020, allowing customers to purchase, sell, and hold four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. However, funds could not be moved to external digital wallets such as MetaMask, Coinbase, or any other hardware wallets.

The fact that users can now do this is significant because PayPal, which also owns the famous app Venmo, is used by millions of people across the world to move money and is increasingly used as a payment platform.

It’s also worth noting that, despite a financial downturn that has seen PayPal’s stock price plummet in recent months, the corporation is maintaining its ambitious crypto objectives.

A PayPal executive stated in an interview that the company is taking a long-term approach to pursuing a crypto strategy.

“The whole reason we’re in crypto is because we believe a substantial portion of commerce is going to move to digital currencies,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, the company’s SVP of Blockchain and Crypto.

Fernandez da Ponte added that the company doesn’t charge for crypto transactions because its crypto plans revolve around commerce, not operating as an exchange business. He also noted that PayPal is bullish on more countries embracing stablecoins and CBDCs, a development that would favor the company’s business model.

At the moment, it’s unclear how much crypto is helping PayPal’s bottom line, especially since the business doesn’t say how many individuals use its Bitcoin and Ethereum services. With the recent market collapse, the amount of crypto transactions on PayPal is likely to have declined significantly, if Coinbase and Robinhood are used as comparisons.

Fernandez da Ponte added that he’s unfazed.

“There’s a lot of discussion about crypto winter, but it’s important to see beyond that. The macro trend of broad crypto adoption is undisturbed,” he said.

Categories
Business

Stone Atwine Announces Rebrand and Growth of Eversend

Ugandan entrepreneur and co-founder of money transfer service app Eversend, Stone Atwine says that the app is rebranding and expanding its product and market.

In 2020, the app only allowed individuals and businesses to send money from one mobile device to another across borders at a cheaper cost than traditional bank and wire transfers. Today, the company’s operations include cross-border payments, virtual credit cards, currency exchange, and cryptocurrency transfers. 

Eversend has also now introduced a B2B crypto-fiat payments application, allowing businesses to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. This system, which consists of an API that businesses can integrate into their own platforms, enables them to hold, payout, collect and convert cryptocurrency to fiat and vice versa.

In addition to this, the app is also rebranding its visual look.

“With these implementations, we have matured into an advanced company. From a mobile application to a retail and business payment platform. The re-brand includes a changed logo and visual style, including the font and color to reflect who we are today and symbolize our future.” The company mentioned in a statement on its website.

The company started with one inspired young man, Stone Atwiine, fixing the perils of sending remittances to his grandma in Uganda and now they’re building the financial octopus for Africa and beyond.

Eversend services are available in Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Rwanda. The company is looking at further regional expansion.

Categories
Business

Ethiopia’s Central Bank Issues Warning Against Crypto Use.

The National Bank of Ethiopia has issued a statement prohibiting the use of any other currency except the Ethiopian Birr for all transactions along with a warning that bitcoin and other digital currencies are illegal. 

In a statement to the state-affiliated news outlet, Fana Broadcasting Corporation, the bank said, “Ethiopia’s national currency is the Ethiopian Birr, with any financial transaction in Ethiopia to be paid in Birrs, according to the law.” 

Much as the Bank recognizes the growth of bitcoin use in Ethiopia, it warns about negative consequences for citizens who use cryptocurrencies for payments and transactions as it insists it has never authorized any such use. 

Fana Broadcasting Corporation reported that the NBE adopted this stance because it believes that digital currencies are being used to conduct informal financial activities and money laundering in the country.

The timing of the announcement may worry critics as it comes shortly after cybersecurity firm Octagon Networks which has a base of operation in Addis Ababa announced that it had converted all its liquid assets to bitcoin. 

The news was met with mixed reactions and a Twitter user claiming to be from the Financial Services sector in Ethiopia tagged Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Ali in a tweet saying, 

“Why this Happening in Ethiopia it Supposed to Approve Crypto Currencies & Legitimate Digital Currencies To Fully Functionable in Ethiopia, Not All Users use it for corruptions.”

The Ethiopian Government has an ongoing initiative with Input-Output Global (the company responsible for the Cardano blockchain) that started in April 2021 aimed at creating decentralized digital student and teacher IDs. 

As of 3 weeks ago, Input-Output Global announced that it was ready for the rollout that would initially see 1 to 2 million students and teachers benefitting on the way to the target of 5 million students, and 750,000 teachers.

Cardano’s ultimate goal is to establish a payment network in Ethiopia before expanding to the rest of the African continent.

Africa is still divided on its approach to digital currencies. Many countries have taken the cautionary approach of banning cryptocurrencies and are only seen to revisit their position once a viable government alternative (Central Bank Digital Currency) or oversight protocols such as sandboxes are put in place. 

The National Bank of Ethiopia also warned that it will take serious legal measures against anyone that is found using cryptocurrencies and urged citizens to report any illegal transactions to Ethiopian authorities.

Categories
Business

Bitstamp Lists Shiba Inu


The Shiba Inu is officially listed on Bitstamp. Bitstamp made an announcement yesterday that the Shibarmy can now transfer and completely trade SHIB on the platform as a result of the listing. 

The decision to list the Shiba Inu was made in December 2021. However, the Bitstamp team was experiencing technical difficulties with the SHIB listing, which caused the listing to be paused and delayed. 

The listing is a great success for SHIB and a big deal for the meme coin.

Shiba Inu’s increased popularity has resulted in a surge of requests from the Bitstamp community. 

Shiba Inu transfers were also authorized yesterday after the announcement. However, full trading will be authorized when there is enough liquidity.

With over four million consumers, Bitstamp has a global footprint in over 100 countries. The exchange is arguably the first place where users will opt to store their cryptocurrency. Because of this, the listing of SHIB is a great deal for Shiba Inu and its community. The coin will therefore increase its popularity and bring in a lot of new investors.

Categories
Business

Binance and Majid Al Futtaim Group To Collaborate For Crypto Payments.

Leading crypto exchange, Binance has partnered with the Middle East’s biggest mall operator, Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Group to facilitate crypto payments at 29 Shopping Malls and 13 Hotels within its conglomerate. 

The two companies will collaborate on multiple crypto and blockchain projects in a strategic partnership that could be beneficial to the shopping malls, hotels, cinemas, hypermarkets and retail stores in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. 

The MAF Group is known for funding major developments such as the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, Mall of Oman in Muscat and the Mall of Egypt in Cairo. 

The Group also has the exclusive license to operate more than 375 Carrefour stores in 17 countries employing more than 37,000 people and serving 750,000 customers per day across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao is optimistic about the partnership and is quoted saying, “Majid Al Futtaim is one of the most prestigious businesses in the Middle East and has millions of customers every year.” He also tweeted,

The CEO at Majid Al Futtaim, Alain Bejjani said, “We are delighted to be partnering with global Web3 leader, Binance on the new frontiers of customer engagement and experience and look forward to working in tandem to evolve the third generation of web technology, develop strong capabilities and deliver innovation and world-class omnichannel experiences to our customers.”

According to the Binance website, Binance Pay which supports more than 40 cryptocurrencies  will be integrated to allow the millions of customers at Majid Al Futtaim’s various locations to pay with cryptocurrencies in line with appropriate laws and regulations. 

Binance Pay is a contactless, borderless, and secure user-to-user gateway on the Binance platform that allows users and merchants around the world to use crypto without incurring special handling fees for using crypto. 

An investor presentation from February showed that in 2021, MAF Group recorded 175 million visitors across its different mall locations in the 17 countries. 

“Integrating Web3 technologies will give its customers access to innovative new ways to engage with its brands and provide new ways to pay,” Zhao remarked. 

Zhao commended MAF Group for being a trailblazer in bridging the gap between the physical and Web3 experiences adding that through partnerships like these, we will see the innovative use-cases that come to define the next digital era emerge.

The two companies will also collaborate on other projects including listing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Binance’s marketplace and creating a digital wallet infrastructure to hold cryptocurrencies from multiple platforms.