Latam Insights: Bolivia Sells Gold for Dollars, Argentina Bans Fintech Crypto, Fitch Upgrades El Salvador’s Credit Rating

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic development news from Latin America during the last week. In this issue, Bolivia passes a law to sell gold for dollars, the Central Bank of Argentina bans fintech…

Breaking the Barriers of Traditional Banking With Digital Assets

Another one bites the dust! The banking industry in the United States is in trouble, and regional banks are feeling the squeeze. A number of banks have failed recently due to mismanagement, poor risk management, and other factors which are leading…

Ethereum Price to Peak at $2,758 This Year, Then Fall to $2,342 by 2023’s End, Finder Experts Say

A recent survey made public by the online comparison platform Finder.com has revealed the predictions of 32 professionals in the fields of fintech and cryptocurrency. The specialists have expressed their conviction that ethereum, the second largest digital asset by market capitalization,…

Binance Increases USDC Holdings as BUSD’s Market Cap Slides Lower

Eight days ago, Paxos announced that the company would no longer mint the stablecoin BUSD. Since then, the coin’s market capitalization has been sliding lower as redemptions have become more prominent. Meanwhile, a data researcher from Nansen has discovered that Binance,…

Oman Capital Markets Regulator Plans to Establish a Virtual Assets Regulatory Framework

The Oman Capital Market Authority (CMA) has said it plans to establish a regulatory regime to govern as well as develop the country’s virtual assets market. The regulator said the envisaged regulatory regime enables it to avail an “alternative financing and…

Egyptian Fintech MNT-Halan Secures $400 Million in Funding, Valuation Rises to Over $1 Billion

Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan announced on Feb. 1 that it had raised over $340 million via debt and equity and it expects to raise an additional $60 million from leading international investors. The latest funding round sees MNT-Halan’s valuation rise to over…

Davos 2023: CBDCs Are the Future of Central Bank Money but They Are Still Not Ready

A World Economic Forum (WEF) panel comprised of central bankers and global tech providers has profiled central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as the future of central bank money, presenting them as one of the solutions for limitations in the payments sector…

Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma Agrees to Cede Control of Fintech Giant Ant Group

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma recently agreed to give up control of Ant Group as part of changes to the fintech’s corporate structure, which will supposedly not have an impact on “the economic interests of any shareholders of Ant Group and their…

Fintechs Accounted for Over 30% of Tracked Kenyan Tech Startups in 2022 — Study

As of November 2022, Kenyan fintechs accounted for 30.2% or 93 out of the 308 tracked tech startups, a Disrupt Africa study recently found. In addition, the study findings show that the fintech sub-sector alone accounted for 3,100 or 27% of…

Financial Companies Report First Deal With Digital Assets Under Russian Law

Two companies have carried out Russia’s first transactions with digital financial assets as defined by the country’s current legislation. The deal involved the tokenization of debt issued by a third party and its subsequent acquisition. Russian Companies Conduct Issue and Placement…