Africa is the World Leader in Peer-to-Peer Trading. Tweets by Jack Dorsey

Major Updates

• Massive hopes rise as Tweeter Founder, Tweets about African crytpto P2P trading
• South Africa will implement new KYC requirements for cryptocurrency asset owners.
• Uganda intends to convert some of its historical treasures into NFTs.
• East African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan want to investigate the usage of central bank digital currency (CBDC) as an alternative to their common payment system.

South Africa Working Group Issues New Position Paper Calling for Crypto Asset Provider Regulation

The Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) of South Africa has issued a new position paper calling for regulating the country's cryptocurrency industry. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB)-created IFWG suggests "a tiered strategy to bring crypto-assets into the regulatory jurisdiction via the regulation of crypto asset service providers (CASPs)" in the paper.

AML/CFT Requirements for Crypto Service Providers
In addition, the 49-page study "sets forth 25 proposals for a changed South African policy, legal, and regulatory posture on crypto assets and associated activities." According to the IFWG, some of these proposals are "already underway and in the process of being adopted, while others will take considerably longer to implement."

Meanwhile, the IFWG's suggestions are divided into three broad areas in the position paper. Concerning the first, the working group proposes that CASP conforms to the statutory standards aimed at countering money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT). Among these obligations is the reporting of "cash transactions of $1818.00 (R25 000.00) and above, or the appropriate level at any given moment."

Members of the East African Community Investigate the Use of CBDC as an Alternative Regional Payment System

Six East African countries are planning to investigate the use of central bank digital currency (CBDC) as an alternative to their common payment system. The six nations, all of whom are members of the East African Community (EAC) economic bloc, hope that this option would pave the way for "a unified currency for the area by 2024."

The EAC's digital currency proposal was revealed in response to the bloc secretariat's "consultancy request for a feasibility study" on the East African Payment System (EAPS). Since its inception in 2014, the EAPS has been unable to operate successfully owing to member countries' mistrust of one another's currencies.

As a result, the EAC said in a report that the chosen "consultant would perform an exploratory scoping of such developments." Similarly, the consultant is required to do exploratory scoping for "new technologies and their adoption, including but not limited to technologies involving the usage of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)."

Artifacts from Uganda's National Museum will be turned into NFTs

The Uganda National Museum (UNM), one of Africa's oldest museums, plans to produce digital reproductions of the unique treasures on show. In collaboration with software development company Murcom, Uganda's largest museum is scheduled to exhibit and sell the digitally represented goods on Binance's non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.

The "blockchain-based digital representations of the numerous artefacts under the Museum's custody," according to Murcom's Medium article, will be built using the software firm's MUDA NFT platform. Binance NFT will be launched on June 24, and both UNM and MUDA will be participants in the crypto exchange's "100 Creators' Campaign."

Meanwhile, in describing why the Ugandan museum decided to join the NFT movement, Marcom Director Suleiman Murunga details the token production and validation procedure.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrency transactions in Africa are quickly expanding. In a region where mobile money is already widely used, virtual currency benefits a youthful, tech-savvy populace. We hope that African authorities see these benefits and open their doors to wider adoption.

Question of the day

What do you think of these recent developments coming from Africa?