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. With this latest round of funding, VALR’s valuation has increased to $240 million, a 10X in growth since it raised its $3.4 million in a Series A round in July 2020. This round was led by VC Pantera Capital, Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, and several others. VALR claims to have processed over $7.5 billion in trading volume since 2019 from over 250,000 retail customers and 500 global institutional users. It currently has about 420 BTC …

Unathi Kamlana, the commissioner of South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority has reportedly said the government’s rollout of a crypto framework would be aimed at mitigating any potential risks. According to a Friday report from Bloomberg, Kamlana said the financial regulator planned to present a regulatory framework early in 2022 intended to protect investors from “potentially highly risky” crypto assets. The commissioner said any framework on crypto would be created in coordination with the Prudential Authority and Financial Surveillance Board of the South African Reserve Bank. “What we want to be able to do is to intervene when we think …

Zimbabwe's Minister of Information publicly dismissed ongoing rumors about the country considering the adoption of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin (BTC). Rather, Minister Monica Mutsvangwa clarified that the government of Zimbabwe is keen to experiment with a central banking digital currency (CBDC). The rumor about Zimbabwe’s crypto adoption was sparked based on numerous reports quoting Charles Wekwete, Permanent Secretary of the President’s office, saying that the government was in talks with the private sector businesses to help introduce cryptocurrency in the country. Just one day after the reports, Mutsvangwa took to a cabinet briefing to dismiss the ongoing crypto adoption claims: “Government …

In response to a warning from South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority, major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has said it is in compliance with local regulators and is not offering financial advice or intermediary services to residents. In a Friday statement from Binance, the crypto exchange implied the warning from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, or FSCA, lacked authority because the group does not have the power to regulate “crypto-related investments” in South Africa. The exchange also pushed back against allegations that South Africans used the Binance South Africa Telegram group to access services for the crypto exchange, saying the online …

Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has detected more than 1,500 fraudulent entities targeting potential crypto investors and miners just in the first half of 2021. Kaspersky’s research shows that 0.60% of users from South African countries have already been targeted by malicious crypto miners. The report also suggests that the most common methods of duping unwary users involved false advertisements claiming to sell mining equipment and fake websites posing as crypto exchanges. Kaspersky’s data based on anonymized statistics revealed that 0.85% of crypto investors from Kenya and 0.71% Nigerians were targets of crypto-miner malware, while investors from Ethiopia (3.68%) and Rwanda …

South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has warned the country’s public against dealing with crypto exchange platform Binance. In a statement issued on Friday, the FSCA stated that Binance Group, an “international company” domiciled in Seychelles, was not authorized to render financial services in the country. Binance is headquartered in the Cayman Islands and Seychelles. As part of the warning, the FSCA indicated that South Africans were using a Telegram group to gain access to Binance’s crypto exchange services in the country. In addition to the warning against using Binance, the financial regulator also reminded South Africans that crypto …

The central banks of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa have announced a joint initiative to trial international settlements using central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The initiative, dubbed Project Dunbar, will prototype shared platforms enabling direct transfers between institutions using digital currencies issued by multiple central banks. The pilot’s findings will be used to inform the “development of global and regional platforms” in addition to supporting the G20’s roadmap for improving cross-border payments. Project Dunbar will be carried out in partnership with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub from its Singapore Center. The project will engage multiple partners …

Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), has argued against classifying crypto as currencies. According to a report by MoneyWeb, the central bank chief likened crypto to assets rather than currency during an interactive session at the Wits Business School Leadership Dialogues. According to South Africa’s central bank governor, cryptocurrencies only meet two of the three currency criteria, stating: “A cryptocurrency is a store of value. It is a medium of exchange, but is not generally accepted. It’s only accepted by those who are participating in it.” Kganyago’s comments are a common criticism leveled by central bankers …

Investigations into the South African company Mirror Trading International (MTI) — widely seen as last year’s most ruinous Bitcoin (BTC) Ponzi scheme — are now engaging the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. MTI, which went into provisional liquidation in December 2020, claimed to have over 260,000 members across 170 countries at its height. It had first caught regulators’ attention in Texas back in July of last year, where its operations were quickly shut down. South Africa’s Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) issued its own statement in August 2020, warning that the company lacked a mandatory license and was offering …

Riccardo Spagni, the former maintainer of the Monero (XMR) cryptocurrency, was arrested last month in Nashville, Tennessee on fraud charges tied to alleged offenses in South Africa between 2009 and 2011. Spagni was on board a private jet scheduled to fly to Los Cabos, Mexico when he was apprehended in Nashville during a scheduled refueling stop, according to court documents. His journey originally began just outside of New York City. The court documents state he is currently in the custody of the U.S. Attorney General. The arrest was made at the request of the South African government, which is seeking …

Raees Cajee, the co-founder of South African crypto investment platform AfriCrypt, has denied claims that he and his brother ran off with billions in investor funds, asserting the platform lost $5 million in a hack. Last week, Cointelegraph reported that AfriCrypt — an asset manager purporting to offer daily returns of up to 10% that launched in 2019 — had been accused of disappearing with 69,000 BTC of investor funds in a mysterious exploit. While AfriCrypt had notified users of the hack on April 13, suspicions were immediately raised as the message urged investors to avoid taking legal action as …

Around 69,000 Bitcoin (BTC) has vanished from a South African investment platform along with two brothers who owned the crypto firm. Although the facts are yet to be proven in court, if it turns to be an exit scam rather than a hack, it would be the biggest in history according to Bloomberg. There were warning signs for investors either way, with users reportedly promised returns of up to 10% a day. AfriCrypt was founded in 2019 and operated by brothers Ameer and Raees Cajee. It had reportedly amassed around 54 billion rands worth of BTC, or $3.6 billion at …