What a great week it was for the African cryptocurrency industry. A lot of moves were made in the past week, from the first African-owned cryptocurrency exchange listing on Coinmarketcap to buying crypto coins using prepaid air time credit. Here are some of the news that made highlights this week.
Among the stories that hit the headlines this week is the introduction of the Basqet payment gateway that will enable businesses to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, USDT, and many other cryptocurrencies as payment. This is good news for crypto enthusiasts as they can now bypass banks and use their crypto coins directly to purchase merchandise.
Basqet, a crypto payments startup, just launched a beta version of the payment and is soon going live with 118 businesses already committed to using the platform. The team had already tested the platform before the beta version release, where about $1.3 million had been transacted with a few businesses.
According to Elishin, the Senior Product Manager, the Basqet payment gateway connects businesses and cryptocurrency holders. This is a product that will see more Africans use cryptocurrencies to pay for merchandise, which has not been happening a lot.
The platform will also promote crypto adoption across Africa as more people can now use cryptocurrencies without the need to cash out their coins, which can be very expensive. Basqet will be one of the crypto projects to watch in 2022.
Another exciting crypto news coming out of Africa has been Quidax, the first fully African-own cryptocurrency exchange to be listed on Coinmarketcap. This is news worth celebrating because it is a big milestone for the industry. Quidax launched in 2018 and has transacted over $3.9 billion in less than three years of operation.
The listing also indicates that we are making positive progress as a continent towards catching up with the rest of the world in developing quality crypto products. Coinmarketcap is one of the most trusted sources for crypto data, including projects’ information.
Therefore, listing on this platform is a process that proves the authenticity of the Quidax project. The listing has increased the confidence investors have in this project. It also gives the project global visibility, which will grow it bigger due to a larger market.
The listing also opens the door for many other crypto projects coming out of Africa. Like other cryptocurrencies exchanges, Quidax enables users to trade their crypto coins by selling, buying, storing, and transferring.
https://bitcoinke.io/2022/03/quidax-listed-on-coinmarketcap/
In other news, the South Africa regulator has been working on regulations for the cryptocurrency market. But there has been an issue of the largest global crypto exchanges getting warnings from the regulator in the past few weeks. The regulator has come out to clarify the warnings it has been issuing.
According to Brandon Topham, an official of the South African financial sector regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the organization has been targeting global cryptocurrency exchanges that are not registered in the country to offer derivatives.
While speaking to Bitcon.com, Topham insisted that these warnings were meant to protect the public. This clears the misunderstanding floating around, saying that these cryptocurrencies have been targeted because they deal with cryptocurrency.
This talk comes when cryptocurrency regulations in South Africa are being framed. This is after intensive public participation was complete. According to the FSCA, the regulations should be ready by the end of 2022 and will address most of the issues the regulator is struggling with today.
Before that, a lot of developments are expected to take place with FSCA trying to streamline the industry in what it has regularly referred to as ‘protecting the public.’
Imagine buying cryptocurrencies using your prepaid air time credit? Well, that’s what the Fonbnk platform will soon offer Africans and other emerging markets. The platform connects prepaid mobile SIM cards holders to the global cryptocurrency market.
The Fonbnk, a US-based company, has raised $3.5 million in the seed round. The oversubscribed round was led by Kranken Ventures, North Island Ventures, and Formless Capital. It also attracted American celebrity/ entrepreneur Pharrell William through his company, Black Ambition, and a variety of many other companies.
The capital raised will be used to push the brand across Africa. The objective is to bring more unbanked Africans to the global financial system through cryptocurrency.
Fonbnk is already working with hundreds of mobile phone carriers across eight African countries. According to the team, the capital raised during the seed round spread the brand across more African countries.
This is a revolutionary technology that will increase the adoption of cryptocurrency in Africa.
In other news, the African crypto industry has continued to attract multi-billion companies. The latest entrant into this market is the high-tech investment firm called ICICB. The Dubai-based company specializes in financial services and investment offerings and has invested in a range of industries, including digital banking and commercial real estate.
ICICB has recently been thickening its global reach by acquiring more crypto exchanges licenses in almost all parts of the world, including Africa. The company just got licensed in the Gambia, now the first African country it is starting operations in.
The entrance of the ICICB into the crypto exchange niche will provide Africans with a larger pool of products to select from. It will also open up the continent to more global crypto enthusiasts, which is good for the industry.
It is also important to note that ICICB operating in Africa means skills transfer. The company has some of the best engineers, coders, and all experts in the crypto industry. Africans hired by the company will learn from the best in the world, and the knowledge will trickle down to many others.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/high-tech-investment-firm-icicb-163500423.html
These are the top crypto news stories coming out of Africa this week. Follow our social media platforms to keep up with the latest updates on the African crypto industry. Follow us on Twitter and Telegram for our latest updates.
