Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) capacity recently surpassed an all-time high of 5,000 BTC. The Lightning Network is a neutral protocol built on top of Bitcoin and currently it does not have a “native” token attached to it like many decentralized finance platforms. Although the Lightning Network’s total liquidity is less than 0.5% of the ETH in DeFi contracts, the uptrend in Bitcoin’s LN capacity versus a downtrend in the amount of ETH locked in smart contracts is encouraging for LN development. While the liquidity on the LN has been rising consistently, the number of channels on the peer-to-peer network dropped …

The Lightning Network has struck Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. During a conference in Ghana, Strike CEO Jack Mallers announced that the Bitcoin (BTC) payments company has partnered with the mobile app Bitnob to facilitate payments into Africa. Mallers made the announcement on stage at AfroBitcoin, a Bitcoin conference in Ghana's capital city of Accra. He stood alongside Bernard Farah, the Nigerian CEO of Bitnob, following a short presentation on how it works. Money transfers into Africa take advantage of the Lightning Network, the layer-2 payments network built atop Bitcoin. The feature is called “Send Globally,” and it enables instant, low-cost …

As emerging markets take the lead in crypto adoption, Ghana, a country located in West Africa, may soon catch up to other African countries regarding cryptocurrency use. In a report released by blockchain analytics platform Chainalysis, researchers found that Ghana has the potential to achieve crypto adoption levels similar to Kenya and Nigeria, countries which ranked 11th and 19th in the analytics firm’s global crypto adoption index. According to Ray Youssef, the CEO of P2P platform Paxful, the local population's needs along with the current growth trends in Ghana show that it has the potential to become a leader in …

As more countries make progress in terms of developing and implementing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Ghana’s central bank aims to keep up and complete its research on CBDCs with the goal of financial inclusion according to Kwame Oppong, the head of fintech and innovation at the Bank of Ghana. In an interview with Cointelegraph’s Elisha Owusu Akyaw at the Africa Money & DeFi Summit, Oppong laid out the reason behind the West African country’s venture into CBDCs. According to the government official, their main goal at the moment is to finish testing and eventually give their citizens the opportunity …

Ghana national Daniel Karikari worked as a part-time office assistant at a crypto startup, cleaning the office and serving coffee to its managers. While performing his tasks, he encountered the words “blockchain” and “cryptocurrency” on the office wall, sparking an interest that eventually led to a new career. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Karikari shared his humble beginnings. According to him, while working as an office assistant, he started to research crypto because he was curious about the stickers. He explained: “When I saw that, I began to research to know what those words mean. From there, I started browsing …

In modern times of rapid globalization and digitization, technological developments have now reached such proportions that the usage of cryptocurrencies is no new phenomenon. The technology behind blockchain opens the internet for financial services by replacing trust, a fundamental component of the financial system for centuries, with transparency integrated into a decentralized network. Thereby, blockchain bears the potential to help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by empowering the unbanked, predominantly women, reducing transaction fees as well as creating an alternative source of liquidity. Only 57.7% of adults in Ghana in 2021 had a bank account. Unable to …

Ghana is working to develop offline capabilities for its forthcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a bid to promote its use across all segments of Ghanaian society. According to a Monday report from Bloomberg, Kwame Oppong, head of fintech and innovation at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), revealed that the country’s digital currency “e-cedi” will support offline transactions during the Ghana Economic Forum on Monday. Oppong emphasized that offline functionality will allow Ghanaians who lack reliable access to electricity and internet connectivity to embrace the country’s CBDC, stating: “The e-cedi would also be capable of being used in an …

The latest central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has been met with skepticism as Afroblocks, an in-house independent association, speculates the lack of clarity on the central bank’s intentions. Afroblocks (previously Blockchain Society Ghana) has warned the BoG to steer away from “old traditional siloed financial thinking” while planning and developing its digital currency. Rather, Afroblocks co-founder Omar Majdoub said that the success of a CBDC in Ghana will be in its ability to emulate modern-day cryptocurrencies — i.e., being borderless and decentralized. The BoG has partnered with German securities printing firm Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) …

Ghana's vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia believes that African governments need to embrace digital currencies to facilitate trade throughout the continent. As reported by Ghanaweb Bawumia outlined his argument during the Fifth Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference, which boasted the theme of “Facilitating Trade and Trade-Finance in AfCFTA; The Role of the Financial Services Sector.” He argued that trade between African countries demands a “single central payment” system. Currently, moving goods over African borders is costly and time-consuming. A digital payments system, Dr. Bawumia believes, would rectify these issues. Related: Can blockchain make a difference? Africa sees vast monetary …

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is reportedly moving towards the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment. Speaking during a news conference in Ghana’s capital, Accra, on Monday, Ernest Addison, governor of the country’s central bank revealed that the BoG was in the advanced stages of creating a CBDC. As part of his address, Addison said that the planned e-cedi will pass through developmental and evaluation phases before a decision will be made on a national rollout. According to the BoG governor, the final stage will involve a pilot study to finalize issues concerning feasibility before the CBDC …

2020 has seen an acceleration in African crypto adoption, with the continent emerging as the second-largest region for peer-to-peer (P2P) trading, and two African nations ranking in the top eight of the Chainalysis crypto adoption index. However, the booming growth has caught the attention of Africa’s financial regulators, sparking concerns that a rush to introduce heavy-handed oversight could quell innovation in the local crypto industry. Nigeria has led the continent’s growth in 2020, posting weekly P2P volumes of between $5 million to $10 million, followed by Kenya and South Africa with between $1 million and $2 million a week each. …

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) remains committed to piloting a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the bank’s first deputy governor has said. Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari made the comment during a virtual stakeholder workshop on payment systems and services, according to a report from GhanaWeb on June 8. This spring, the central bank established a Fintech and Innovation Office to foster development in the local industry, and has in recent years adapted its organizational structure to respond to major changes in the payments sector. Notwithstanding these approaches to encouraging electronic cash transactions, Opoku-Afari emphasized that the bank’s specific CBDC pilot plans …