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Congolese Fintech Startups, Government Form Association to Accelerate Financial Inclusion
25.3.2024
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)-based fintech startups have partnered with the government to launch an association. The goal of the collaboration is to accelerate financial inclusion in the African country. By partnering with the government, the association will play a crucial role in shaping...
Nigerian Central Bank, Real-World Asset Firm Partner to Revive Struggling CBDC
9.3.2024
Gluwa, a platform for real-world assets, announced on March 7 its partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria. The partnership arrangement aims to improve the functionality of the Nigerian central bank’s digital currency and promote financial innovation through blockchain technology. Improving...
Report: Egypt Wants to Have a Functioning CBDC by 2030
16.1.2024
Egypt reportedly aims to launch a central bank digital currency by 2030 to boost the competitiveness of its national currency. According to an Egyptian economic expert, a digital currency issued by the central bank is more secure than privately issued cryptocurrencies. Enhancing Monetary Policy...
Defi Can Strengthen the United States’ Leadership in Tech and Financial Services, CFTC Report Says
9.1.2024
Decentralized finance projects and their respective ecosystems potentially offer both promising opportunities and risks to the U.S. financial system, a Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) study has found. The CFTC study report recommends conducting a gap analysis against current...
41% of Central Banks Expect to Have Operational CBDCs by 2028 — Study
26.12.2023
Some 41% of central banks that participated in the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) study said they expect to have an operational central bank digital currency (CBDC) by 2028. The survey found that the sentiment towards CBDCs is turning positive with 30% of the respondents...
UNDP and Algorand Foundation to Launch Blockchain Academy in Q1 of 2024
6.12.2023
The United Nations Development Programme together with the Algorand Foundation are set to launch a blockchain academy in the first quarter of 2024. The objective of the academy is to provide the UNDP’s employees “with knowledge and insights into the applications of blockchain...
IMF Boss Kristalina Georgieva Calls to Accelerate ‘Financial Inclusion’ Through Digitalization
18.10.2023
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has argued that digitalization could help to scale up “financial inclusion.” During a keynote, Georgieva stated that digitalization worked well in this sense and called for an extension of initiatives...
Central Bank Digital Currency a Threat to Financial Stability — Nigerian Central Bank Study
27.9.2023
Despite the role it has played in narrowing the financial inclusion gap, the e-naira central bank digital currency still poses a risk to financial stability. In addition to bolstering the financial inclusion rate, the central bank claimed that the CBDC would “widen the size and stability...
Kenyan Fintech Startup Kotani Pay Receives $2 Million Pre-Seed Funding
8.9.2023
The Kenyan fintech startup Kotani Pay has raised $2 million in a pre-seed funding round which was led by P1 Ventures. The capital raised will be used to fund the startup’s expansion into five African countries. Felix Macharia said his firm is working with central banks, some of whom...
Egyptian and Nigerian Central Banks Sign Agreement to Deepen Cross-Border Regulation
20.7.2023
The central banks of Egypt and Nigeria have signed a fintech agreement to deepen the two institutions’ “cross-border regulatory collaboration” and information sharing. The London Institute of Banking & Finance, which also signed an MOU, will offer training programs, workshops...
BIS Survey: 93% of the World’s Central Banks Are Engaged in CBDC Work
12.7.2023
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an organization that seeks to support the international cooperation of the world’s central banks, has released the results of its 2022 survey on central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and crypto. The survey found that 93% of the 86 banks surveyed...
Bots Sending BTC — Lightning Labs Releases New Tools for AI-Bitcoin Integration
11.7.2023
On July 6, Lightning Labs released new developer tools to enhance the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and Bitcoin. The layer two (L2) startup introduced a new specification known as L402 and tools that enable AI systems to conduct transactions over the Lightning Network. The Fusion...
Crypto offers Africans a ‘lifeline’ from inflation and corruption, say execs
30.6.2023
Chris Maurice, founder and CEO of crypto exchange Yellow Card said in Africa, crypto isn't the "casino" that it can sometimes feel like in the West
African Fintech M-Kopa Secures $200M in Debt Financing Plus $55M in Equity Funding
24.5.2023
Kenya-headquartered African fintech M-Kopa is reported to have secured $200 million in debt financing and an additional $55 million in equity funding. Financial services group Standard Bank Group led the debt financing round while the investment company Sumitomo Corporation led the equity round...
Bitcoin Voucher Provider Azteco Secures $6 Million Funding Round Led by Jack Dorsey
20.5.2023
On Thursday, California-based bitcoin voucher company Azteco revealed it had garnered $6 million in seed funding through a round spearheaded by Block, Inc.’s CEO and chairperson, Jack Dorsey. Azteco stated that the newly acquired capital would further its objective to “provide...
Consensus Pitchfest 2023: Finance for the Unbanked
21.4.2023
The Consensus Pitchfest 2023 gives a platform to firms that are leading game-changing innovations in crypto, creating more space for financial inclusion and empowerment globally
‘Over-Collateralization Can Help Mitigate the Risk of Stablecoin Depegging’ — Pendulum CTO
5.4.2023
Despite being touted as a game-changing innovation, the decentralized finance (defi) ecosystem is still not connected to fiat rails largely because of regulatory and compliance issues, Torsten Stuber, the CTO at Pendulum says. According to Stuber, the defi ecosystem will succeed in getting more...
Report: UAE Central Bank Implements Digital Currency Strategy
29.3.2023
The central bank in the United Arab Emirates said it has started implementing its digital currency strategy with partners G42 Cloud and R3. According to the central bank, the digital currency initiative is expected to “further position and solidify the UAE as a leading global financial...
US Treasury and White House to Hold Regular Meetings on CBDCs and Payment Innovations
2.3.2023
On March 1, 2023, Nellie Liang, undersecretary for domestic finance at the U.S. Treasury, delivered a speech to the Atlantic Council in Washington concerning the subject of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Liang detailed during her speech that a CBDC is one of several options...
Zambia Testing Technology to Regulate Cryptocurrency — Government Minister
19.2.2023
The Bank of Zambia and the country’s securities regulators are currently testing the technology to regulate cryptocurrencies, a Zambian government minister has said. According to Felix Mutati, cryptocurrency is a revolutionary technology that embodies a future his country desires to achieve....