Wave of Mobile Tax Hikes Squeezes Africa’s Poor to Indulge Governments

A smart robber fleeces you with a pen and a handshake. From Zimbabwe to Kenya, Uganda to Benin, African governments are on a tax-raising spree, looking for easy money, ostensibly to help fund successive revenue shortfalls and budget deficits. Often, the money ends up being misappropriated by corrupt public officials. The best weapon in government … Read more

New POS Terminal by Pundix Allows Nigerians to Make Purchases in Bitcoin

Indonesian cryptocurrency and payments company Pundix has introduced a point of sale terminal at a shop in Nigeria, allowing people in the West African country to make purchases using cryptocurrency, including bitcoin. The move is seen as key to scaling up cryptocurrency adoption and development in Africa’s biggest bitcoin market. Also read: Payments Platform Wirex Launches … Read more

Pesamill Africa Launches as Kenya’s Latest Exchange Offering P2P And Centralized Trading

Pesamill Africa started trading today in one of Africa’s most active bitcoin markets. The exchange will compete with the likes of Bitpesa, and market itself to more than 48 million Kenyans, promising to help them buy and sell cryptocurrency peer-to-peer or through a centralized exchange with an order book. Also read: European Banks Complicit as Corrupt … Read more

US Dollar Losing Dominance as a Means for Settling Transactions in Africa

The dominance of the United States dollar as a settlement currency in Africa is being challenged by emerging payment methods in financial technology and by native African fiat currencies. In the four years to 2017, fewer people in the continent of 1.2 billion transacted via the US dollar than they did with their local currencies … Read more

Ex-Liberia Central Bank Chief Under Probe for Missing $104M, State Seeks FBI Help

More than a dozen government officials, including former central bank governor and his deputy, have come under investigation in Liberia after $104 million of newly printed banknotes vanished from the state purse. Liberia has issued a travel ban to Milton Weeks, the ex-Central Bank of Liberia chief, his deputy Charles Sirleaf, son of former president Ellen … Read more

North Queensland is Becoming a Hub of BCH Accepting Businesses

The northern part of the Australian state, Queensland, is bustling with cryptocurrency energ. The region is extremely passionate towards one specific decentralized peer-to-peer electronic currency — bitcoin cash (BCH).  Also Read: Netherlands’ Largest Bank ING Group Fined $900M for Money Laundering North Queensland Bitcoin Cash Merchant Adoption Expanded 52% Last Month Over the last few months, … Read more

Nigerian President Demands HSBC Bank Return $100M in Stolen Money

Decentralised cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are anathema to traditional banking. Bitcoin allows people to trade directly with each other, bypassing banks, the conventional middlemen. Banks make money by charging fees for the services they provide, including keeping one’s money in a bank. It is no surprise, therefore, that they hate cryptocurrency. But banks aren’t guiltless, they … Read more

Poor Internet Access Could Slow Down Cryptocurrency Growth In Africa

Africa is often lauded as the next big thing for cryptocurrency adoption and development. But could poor internet access and connectivity slow down progress? A new report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) shows that it will cost $450 billion to connect 1.5 billion people – most of them in Africa – to the internet. … Read more

Faced With Cash And Forex Shortages, Zimbabweans Turn To Bitcoin – Even When It’s Banned

Cryptocurrency may be banned in Zimbabwe, but bitcoin is helping ordinary folk make payments bank-free. It makes for a great fit for the more than 10 million Zimbabweans who lack access to basic banking services. And it’s even more beneficial to the banked few, a distrusting lot, keen to protect their savings against bank failure, … Read more

The Darknet Cat and Mouse Game: Law Enforcement Gains More Traction

Since the dawn of the Silk Road and the myriad of darknet markets (DNM) that followed, it’s been a cat and mouse game between law enforcement and DNM vendors and users. Also read: Proof-of-Stake is a Rebranded Version of the Old Financial System Operation Bayonet For a while, after the Silk Road was taken down it … Read more