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Nigeria Declares Food Emergency After Sixth Consecutive Increase in Inflation Rate
19.7.2023
The Nigerian government declared a food price emergency after the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the country’s inflation rate had gone up by 0.38% to 22.79%. The NBS said the June inflation figure does not “fully capture the impact of the fuel...
Another Big 4 Australian Bank Blocks Payments to ‘High-Risk’ Crypto Exchanges
19.7.2023
National Australia Bank (NAB) has joined other major lenders in the country in blocking payments to some cryptocurrency exchanges. The banking institution said it’s introducing new customer protections regarding financial transactions with certain scam-related crypto platforms. Australia’s NAB Bank...
US Dollar Shortages: Ethiopia and Nigeria in $100 Million Currency Swap Transaction
17.7.2023
According to a report, the central banks of Ethiopia and Nigeria recently consummated a $100 million currency swap transaction. Under the arrangement, an Ethiopian airliner was paid local currency equivalent to $100 million while Dangote Cement is said to have received a similar amount of nairas....
US Lawmakers Call on Congress to Pass Crypto Law Following SEC v Ripple Ruling on XRP
16.7.2023
Several U.S. lawmakers have called on Congress to pass crypto legislation following the court ruling on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Ripple case regarding XRP. “Gary Gensler’s SEC cannot continue to pursue its regulation by enforcement approach, which only...
Binance Reportedly Lays Off Over 1,000 Employees, CZ Says Exchange Is Hiring
15.7.2023
Leading crypto exchange Binance has cut hundreds of jobs after a string of executive exits, according to a media report. The news, which comes as the coin trading platform marks its sixth anniversary amid increased pressure from regulators, was termed as FUD by founder Changpeng Zhao who said...
Report: Zimbabwean Economist Says Portion of Goverment Employees’ Salaries Must Be Paid in Gold Coins
15.7.2023
A Zimbabwean economist has said authorities should consider paying a portion of government employees’ salaries with gold coins. The economist said partially paying government workers with gold coins can “help curtail the black market dominance” in the country’s currency...
India’s External Affairs Minister Shuns BRICS Currency Talks, Prioritizes Rupee’s Strength Instead
11.7.2023
Members of the BRICS alliance are meeting at a summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August, focusing attention on the potential for the BRICS bloc to create a gold-backed reserve currency. However, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister, said India isn’t...
Eurozone Inflation to Remain Higher Than 2% Target in Next 2 Years, ECB’s Lagarde Admits
9.7.2023
Inflation in the eurozone has started to decline but the area’s monetary authority expects it to remain above its target in the next two years. The European Central Bank has to do more to bring it down, its governor commented on the backdrop of stable consumer expectations about rising prices...
Report: Zimbabwe Central Bank Begins Gold-Backed Digital Currency ‘Dry Run’
8.7.2023
According to a report, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has commenced trials, or the “dry run” test, for the viability of launching a gold-backed digital currency. Nelson Mupunga, the director of economic research at the central bank, reportedly said the digital currency will act as...
Report: South Africa Regulator Says Unlicensed Crypto Exchanges in 2024 May Be Closed Down
6.7.2023
According to the regulator of the South African financial services industry, cryptocurrency exchanges based in the country must secure operating licenses before the year ends. Crypto exchanges that fail to abide by the requirement will either be fined or closed down, Unathi Kamlana, the Financial...
Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin Push for Increased Settlements in National Currencies
5.7.2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have pushed for the increased use of national currencies in mutual settlements as more countries shift away from the U.S. dollar. “I consider it essential to increase the share of settlements in national currencies”...
Elon Musk Sparks Controversy With Twitter Rate Limits — Censorship Expert Says Musk ‘Has Stepped on a Rattlesnake’
3.7.2023
Social media giant Twitter has imposed limits on user accounts due to “extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation,” said Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk. The billionaire “has no idea the DARPA rattlesnake he just stepped on by doing this,” a censorship...
Haru Invest Fallout: South African Crypto Platform Says Customers Can Only Access 76% of Crypto Holdings
30.6.2023
The South African crypto platform, Revix, said on June 28 that customers can now only access just over three-quarters (76%) of their crypto assets. Revix said the move to block customers’ access to 24% of their crypto assets was made after one of its primary service providers Haru Invest...
Mastercard Introduces ‘Multi-Token Network’ to Support Wider Digital Asset Industry
30.6.2023
Mastercard has introduced its Multi-Token Network (MTN), an app store powered by blockchain technologies for building regulated financial applications. “MTN represents one of Mastercard’s most ambitious projects in the digital asset space to date,” said the payment giant’s head...
Swiss Central Bank to Launch Wholesale CBDC Soon Says Chairman Thomas Jordan
28.6.2023
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said it plans to issue a wholesale central bank digital currency as a pilot via SIX Digital Exchange, a subsidiary of SIX, an operator of infrastructure for the Swiss and Spanish financial centers. SNB chairman Thomas Jordan said while the Central Bank has not ruled...
Report: Swiss Authorities Seize $26 Million in Cryptocurrency Linked to Terraform Labs and Do Kwon
27.6.2023
Law enforcement officials in Switzerland reportedly seized approximately $26 million in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, believed to be linked to Terraform Labs and its co-founder, Do Kwon. Local media in South Korea revealed that the funds were confiscated from Sygnum, a crypto bank based...
IMF Boss: Supporting Egyptian Currency Akin to ‘Putting Water in a Bucket That Has Holes’
27.6.2023
Kristalina Georgieva, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s managing director, has said Egypt needs to plug leakages of foreign reserves if it wishes to successfully support its currency. According to the IMF leader, Egyptian authorities must also do more to support the vulnerable and...
Report: Cuban Peso Parallel Market Rate Plunges to Low Last Seen in Oct. 2022
26.6.2023
The parallel market exchange rate of the Cuban peso versus the greenback recently dropped to CUP200 per dollar, a level last seen in Oct. 2022, a report has said. Pavel Vidal, a former economist at the Cuban central bank, said the peso’s depreciation has caused the “impoverishment...
Veteran Trader Peter Brandt Labels BTC a Legacy Coin to Outlast ‘Make-Believe Cryptos Wannabees’
25.6.2023
Veteran trader Peter Brandt recently branded BTC as a legacy coin that will ultimately outlast and outperform all “make-believe cryptos wannabees.” Some non-bitcoin maximalists have said the veteran trader’s remarks about bitcoin are misguided and called on him to remain...
Over 100,000 Compromised Chatgpt Accounts Discovered on Darknet Markets
24.6.2023
Cybersecurity researchers have found tens of thousands of devices storing Chatgpt credentials that have been infected with info-stealing malware. The account details have ended up being sold on the dark web, they said, pointing out that the Asia-Pacific leads by number of such offers. Increase...