South Africa Financial News

Nelson Mandela’s original arrest warrant raised 1.9 million rand ($130,000) in an auction to help fund a heritage site that documents South Africa’s struggle for democracy. Mandela, the anti-apartheid activist who emerged from 27 years in prison to become South Africa’s first Black president, was arrested in 1962 for conspiring to overthrow the White-minority government. Proceeds from the sale will go toward the Liliesleaf Museum Heritage Site, which received the original document in 2004 as a donation, said Ahren Posthumus, chief executive officer of Momint, the marketplace for NFTs that sold the Mandela item. Last year the museum received about $50,000 following an auction of a NFT of a pen gun owned by fellow freedom fighter Oliver Tambo.

Icecap for investment-grade diamonds to offer fractionalized ownership of the Miss Universe crown via non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Miss Universe Crown was created by Switzerland-based Mouawad, whereas Icecap is a leading player in creating blockchain-based diamond NFTs. The Miss Universe Power of Unity Crown, worn by 2019 Miss Universe winner Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa, and then by 2020 Miss Universe Andrea Meza of Mexico, is currently held by Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu from India.

The Bank of England announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab Digital Currency Initiative, or DCI, on a joint twelve-month research project on Central Bank Digital Currency, or CBDC. The bank said in a statement that the new project was for research purposes only, and not intended to develop an operational CBDC.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS)'s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, known as Project Dunbar, has created more questions than answers, the international body said today. However, establishing a global network of connected CBDC platforms still remains a goal for the bank.

Bank of International Settlement (BIS) Innovation Hub has completed an experimental central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform pilot for international settlement with the central banks of Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa.

Cryptocurrency adoption in Africa is on the march, despite socioeconomic factors and headwinds. A positive report by cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin shows that crypto transactions increased by up to 2,670% in 2022.

Cocoa product startup Koa launched a blockchain-based program this week that improves the transparency of its cocoa supply chain and ensures its Ghanaian farmers are being paid properly.

An unfortunate Bitcoin (BTC) user was duped out of 0.255 BTC, almost $10,000, due to malware running on their computer. 

Digital asset institution Sygnum Bank has announced a collaborative partnership with highly-accredited Swiss-born artistic sculptor, David Pflugi to issue 6,000 Art Security Tokens, or ASTs, via his new project, Victory Works.

As part of a series of amendments to South Africa’s financial laws, crypto-asset service providers will become accountable institutions. A report from the South African treasury announced further crypto regulations “to be finalized during 2022.”

Johannesburg, South Africa-based crypto exchange VALR, has secured a $50 million (over 750 million Rand) Series B round led by Pantera Capital.

South African crypto exchange VALR has raised $50 million in a Series B equity funding round, marking the largest-ever funding for an African crypto exchange.

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Arne Staal is CEO of FTSE Russell and Adam Matthews is chief responsible investment officer for the Church of England Pensions Board and chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative

Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that was not written by Cryptonews.com. 

Arne Staal is CEO of FTSE Russell and Adam Matthews is chief responsible investment officer for the Church of England Pensions Board and chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative

Africa is rarely mentioned among the largest markets for cryptocurrencies. But it may be set to steal a march over other markets. (See also: The Rise Of Africa.) 

Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that was not written by Cryptonews.com. 

cryptocurrency market eroded its gains on Thursday to trade lower following rate hike signals by the Fed at its next meeting. The central bank would steadily remove support for the economy in order to fight high inflation. Barring the US dollar-pegged stable coins, all other eight out of the top-10 digital tokens were trading lower during the trade on Thursday. Bitcoin and Ethereum shed more than 2 per cent each, whereas Terra dropped 7 per cent. The global crypto market cap dropped more than 2 per cent to the $1.62 trillion mark. However, the total crypto market volume rose more than 22 per cent to $103.97 billion.

Police in the Netherlands say they’re still not sure how a stowaway got on board a KLM flight from South Africa to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Sunday.

Malaysia has joined the growing cadre of nations that are exploring the value of researching and developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).