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Departed
Guest
Just interested in people's opinions of crypto in general.
Spursex
Alert Team
Afraid I've missed the boat on them completely lately, always thought that the Central Banks and the authorities would move against them because of their association with crime proceeds.
As much as I may have made a poor investment decision, I believe I've made the right moral one in terms of the energy it consumes to produce nothing of real underlying value to humanity, except to make it easier for crime to flourish, I will continue to refuse to have nothing to do with them now.
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Departed
Guest
Hmmm that's an interesting perspective. BNY Mellon (just one of many) have put it on their platform. And in regards to crime, many more assasinatiojns, payoffs, bribes, and money laundering activities have taken place using the US$ and Sterling than will ever be transacted with bitcoin.
Spursex
Alert Team
Good point, you in it?
D
Departed
Guest
I own some. With more and more major corps putting it on their balance sheets it seemed like a reasonable risk.
Spursex
Alert Team
It's very anti-planet/green agenda, for that reason alone they should be outlawed
D
Departed
Guest
TOKEN EFFORT
Bitcoin is wooing the millions of workers who send their earnings abroad
REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
Unstoppable.
From our Obsession
Future of finance
New technology is upending everything in finance, from saving to trading to making payments.
By Roya Wolverson
March 26, 2021
Even if bitcoin loses favor with the celebrity backers helping to boost its value, there are legions of lesser-known diehards standing by its side.
That’s partly because the wildly popular cryptocurrency is not just a hot investment for hedge funders and corporate moguls—it’s become a cost-effective way to transfer money throughout the developing world. Nowhere is this clearer than in Nigeria, where the central bank is so worried about Nigerians choosing cryptocurrencies over the naira for overseas remittance payments that it is now paying them to use official channels for those transfers instead. The central bank announced the scheme after international remittances inflows plummeted last year, as more Nigerians abandoned official banking channels by turning to cheaper cryptocurrency exchanges. The move came on the heels of a nationwide crackdown on banks dealing in cryptocurrencies, which the government enacted in an attempt to counteract the naira’s declining value.
Other emerging market central banks in Latin America, India, and Southeast Asia, where remittances make up a significant share of the economy, are in a similar bind. Bitcoin transfers surged in emerging markets last year, as the pandemic accelerated the rise of cheaper, more efficient digital remittance services.
Bitcoin’s appeal in emerging markets
For migrant workers who frequently send money across borders to support their families, the minimal transaction costs of cryptocurrency exchanges beat exorbitant transaction fees of traditional money wire companies like Western Union and MoneyGram, whose dominance of the remittances market has long troubled international development institutions concerned with economic growth. Cryptocurrency transactions are faster than official currency transfers, which require working through banks reliant on SWIFT, the sluggish, half-century-old interbank messaging system that handles cross-border payments.
Cryptocurrency exchanges also avoid the political complications of official channels. They have been used to skirt US sanctions to access international payments and financial markets, and by unofficial migrant workers who lack access to local banks. The global reach of cryptocurrencies avoids the inflation risk inherent to official currencies, especially in politically unstable countries reliant on fickle foreign investors.
Central banks fight back
To turn back the tide, central banks have been scurrying to build out official digital currencies to compete with private crypto companies. The question is how quickly they can develop those channels as private players rapidly expand their reach. So far, governments banning cryptocurrencies to buy time have found that, in the digital age, blocking enterprising crypto investors from global markets doesn’t work. Die-hards have simply moved on to smaller peer-to-peer crypto exchanges, making traditional outlets look worse.
https://qz.com/africa/1983610/?utm_term=mucp
Bitcoin is wooing the millions of workers who send their earnings abroad
REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
Unstoppable.
From our Obsession
Future of finance
New technology is upending everything in finance, from saving to trading to making payments.
By Roya Wolverson
March 26, 2021
Even if bitcoin loses favor with the celebrity backers helping to boost its value, there are legions of lesser-known diehards standing by its side.
That’s partly because the wildly popular cryptocurrency is not just a hot investment for hedge funders and corporate moguls—it’s become a cost-effective way to transfer money throughout the developing world. Nowhere is this clearer than in Nigeria, where the central bank is so worried about Nigerians choosing cryptocurrencies over the naira for overseas remittance payments that it is now paying them to use official channels for those transfers instead. The central bank announced the scheme after international remittances inflows plummeted last year, as more Nigerians abandoned official banking channels by turning to cheaper cryptocurrency exchanges. The move came on the heels of a nationwide crackdown on banks dealing in cryptocurrencies, which the government enacted in an attempt to counteract the naira’s declining value.
Other emerging market central banks in Latin America, India, and Southeast Asia, where remittances make up a significant share of the economy, are in a similar bind. Bitcoin transfers surged in emerging markets last year, as the pandemic accelerated the rise of cheaper, more efficient digital remittance services.
Bitcoin’s appeal in emerging markets
For migrant workers who frequently send money across borders to support their families, the minimal transaction costs of cryptocurrency exchanges beat exorbitant transaction fees of traditional money wire companies like Western Union and MoneyGram, whose dominance of the remittances market has long troubled international development institutions concerned with economic growth. Cryptocurrency transactions are faster than official currency transfers, which require working through banks reliant on SWIFT, the sluggish, half-century-old interbank messaging system that handles cross-border payments.
Cryptocurrency exchanges also avoid the political complications of official channels. They have been used to skirt US sanctions to access international payments and financial markets, and by unofficial migrant workers who lack access to local banks. The global reach of cryptocurrencies avoids the inflation risk inherent to official currencies, especially in politically unstable countries reliant on fickle foreign investors.
Central banks fight back
To turn back the tide, central banks have been scurrying to build out official digital currencies to compete with private crypto companies. The question is how quickly they can develop those channels as private players rapidly expand their reach. So far, governments banning cryptocurrencies to buy time have found that, in the digital age, blocking enterprising crypto investors from global markets doesn’t work. Die-hards have simply moved on to smaller peer-to-peer crypto exchanges, making traditional outlets look worse.
https://qz.com/africa/1983610/?utm_term=mucp
Spursex
Alert Team
D
Departed
Guest
As opposed to what? Rare earth's? Copper? Fracking? Steel manufacturing? The concerted effort to undermine (pun intended) bitcoin is going to backfire. All those people without access to day-to-day banking are just going to say naff you to traditional currencies. See below.
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Departed
Guest
DIGITAL CASH
Half of the world’s mobile money services are in Africa
REUTERS/NELLIE PEYTON
In 2020, the continent accounted for the majority of growth in the industry.
From our Obsession
Future of finance
New technology is upending everything in finance, from saving to trading to making payments.
East Africa correspondent
March 30, 2021
Africa continues to be the global leader in mobile money services, a position boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced people to turn to digital services as a safer transaction method than using cash.
The continent, particularly the sub-Saharan Africa region, has been at the forefront of mobile money for years. Last year it accounted for much of the industry’s growth in the number of users, according to the latest report by GSMA, an organization representing the interests of mobile network operators worldwide.
GSMA defines a mobile money service as one that is accessible to people who do not have formal bank accounts. As such, it does not include in its accounting any mobile banking or payment services that are linked to traditional bank accounts or credit cards.
More than 300 mobile money providers
As of 2020, there were 310 live mobile money services. Out of these, 55.2% were in Africa. Mobile money is now available in most markets where access to financial services is low, the report says.
In 2020, the number of registered mobile money accounts grew by 12.7% globally to 1.2 billion. Sub-Saharan Africa added the most users last year—43% of all new accounts.
The global increase was in part a result of changes in consumer behavior, with more people open to digital transactions. But it was due to regulators implementing more flexible “Know Your Customer” processes to verify users’ identity and suitability for a product, and relaxing registration requirements to make it easier to open an account, the report says. The fastest growth was also in regions where governments provided significant pandemic relief to citizens, it adds.
Global transaction value increased by 22% to $767 billion, more than doubling in value since 2017, with 64.5% in Africa.
Many African firms made moves last year to expand into mobile money services. For example, Kenyan and South African telecom companies Safaricom and Vodacom acquired the M-Pesa brand and its product development and support services from the UK’s Vodafone, offering opportunities to expand M-Pesa into new African markets. Airtel Africa entered a partnership with MoneyGram, enabling Airtel Money customers to receive MoneyGram transfers directly into their mobile wallets from more than 200 countries across the world.
While the Covid-19 pandemic may have been a catalyst for digital transactions on mobile platforms in 2020, mobile money providers have not necessarily reaped the commercial benefits of this development, the report says. Consumer spending, the major driver of mobile money revenues, has reduced, and many mobile money services offered fee waivers to reduce handling of cash during the pandemic. M-Pesa’s half-year revenue for April to September 2020 dropped by 14.5%, for instance.
Still, the report states that “having proven itself resilient in the face of sudden and unpredictable change, the industry will emerge from the pandemic more active, integrated, and collaborative.”
Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech and innovation in your inbox
https://qz.com/africa/1990532/?utm_term=mucp
Half of the world’s mobile money services are in Africa
REUTERS/NELLIE PEYTON
In 2020, the continent accounted for the majority of growth in the industry.
From our Obsession
Future of finance
New technology is upending everything in finance, from saving to trading to making payments.
East Africa correspondent
March 30, 2021
Africa continues to be the global leader in mobile money services, a position boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced people to turn to digital services as a safer transaction method than using cash.
The continent, particularly the sub-Saharan Africa region, has been at the forefront of mobile money for years. Last year it accounted for much of the industry’s growth in the number of users, according to the latest report by GSMA, an organization representing the interests of mobile network operators worldwide.
GSMA defines a mobile money service as one that is accessible to people who do not have formal bank accounts. As such, it does not include in its accounting any mobile banking or payment services that are linked to traditional bank accounts or credit cards.
More than 300 mobile money providers
As of 2020, there were 310 live mobile money services. Out of these, 55.2% were in Africa. Mobile money is now available in most markets where access to financial services is low, the report says.
In 2020, the number of registered mobile money accounts grew by 12.7% globally to 1.2 billion. Sub-Saharan Africa added the most users last year—43% of all new accounts.
The global increase was in part a result of changes in consumer behavior, with more people open to digital transactions. But it was due to regulators implementing more flexible “Know Your Customer” processes to verify users’ identity and suitability for a product, and relaxing registration requirements to make it easier to open an account, the report says. The fastest growth was also in regions where governments provided significant pandemic relief to citizens, it adds.
Global transaction value increased by 22% to $767 billion, more than doubling in value since 2017, with 64.5% in Africa.
Many African firms made moves last year to expand into mobile money services. For example, Kenyan and South African telecom companies Safaricom and Vodacom acquired the M-Pesa brand and its product development and support services from the UK’s Vodafone, offering opportunities to expand M-Pesa into new African markets. Airtel Africa entered a partnership with MoneyGram, enabling Airtel Money customers to receive MoneyGram transfers directly into their mobile wallets from more than 200 countries across the world.
While the Covid-19 pandemic may have been a catalyst for digital transactions on mobile platforms in 2020, mobile money providers have not necessarily reaped the commercial benefits of this development, the report says. Consumer spending, the major driver of mobile money revenues, has reduced, and many mobile money services offered fee waivers to reduce handling of cash during the pandemic. M-Pesa’s half-year revenue for April to September 2020 dropped by 14.5%, for instance.
Still, the report states that “having proven itself resilient in the face of sudden and unpredictable change, the industry will emerge from the pandemic more active, integrated, and collaborative.”
Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech and innovation in your inbox
https://qz.com/africa/1990532/?utm_term=mucp
Spursex
Alert Team
Bit coin has no intrinsic worth or value, we have monetary systems that in themselves don't need the energy to fuel a country, so I', going to try and stick to my pledge to not aid China or the Chinese in any way I can.
Silly? maybe, but the way they are behaving/have behaved, they'll end us all if we keep taking/using what they produce.
