Latin America takes global lead in preference for centralized exchanges: Report

October 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

chainalysis

According to Chainalysis, Latin American crypto users show a significant preference for centralized exchanges, in contrast to the worldwide pattern.

According to a recent report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, Latin America has a distinct inclination toward centralized exchanges when compared to the rest of the world, as opposed to decentralized exchanges.

Published on October 11, Chainalysis stated that Latin America has the seventh-largest crypto economy in the world, trailing closely behind the Middle East and North America (MENA), Eastern Asia, and Eastern Europe.

However, it notes that crypto users in Latin America strongly favor using centralized exchanges:

Latin America shows the highest preference for centralized exchanges of any region we study, and tilts slightly away from institutional activity compared to other regions.

Furthermore, in some countries within the region, crypto activity by platform type significantly exceeds the global average.

The worldwide average for preferences regarding crypto platforms stands at 48.1% for centralized exchanges, 44% for decentralized exchanges, and 5.9% for other decentralized finance (DeFi) activities.

*Share of Latin America country crypto activity by platform type. Source: Chainalysis*

However, in Venezuela, the preference for centralized exchanges is significantly high at 92.5%, while decentralized exchanges have a much lower 5.6% preference.

Furthermore, it pointed out that Venezuela has a unique reason for its surging adoption, primarily attributed to a "complex humanitarian emergency."

The report explains that amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, crypto played a pivotal role in directly assisting healthcare professionals in the country.

Therefore, crypto became a necessary form of value as traditional payments were difficult, given the government's refusal to accept international aid, influenced by political reasons.

On the other hand, Colombia shows a 74% preference for centralized exchanges, while decentralized exchanges account for just 21.1% of their preferences.

However, Argentina leads in terms of the sheer volume of cryptocurrency transactions in Latin America, having received an estimated $85.4 billion during the 12-month period ending on July 1.

*Latin America: Countries by crypto value received. Source: Chainalysis*

On May 5, Cointelegraph reported that Argentina's central bank banned payment providers from offering crypto transactions, to reduce the country's payment-system exposure to digital assets.

The monetary authority stated that the purpose of this was to subject fintech companies to the same regulations as conventional financial institutions in Argentina.

Meanwhile, three Latin American countries secured positions in the top 20 ranks on Chainalysis' Global Crypto Adoption Index. Brazil stands at the 9th position, with Argentina following at 15th, and Mexico at 16th.

Yet, India took the top position, with Nigeria and Vietnam following in second and third place, respectively.

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Vitalik Buterin and Polygon co-founder to help send $100M toward COVID-19 research

June 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Vitalik Buterin and Polygon co-founder to help send 0M toward COVID-19 research

Charity

Research into “Long COVID” and furthering medical infrastructure development will be the two main focus areas for Buterin.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is working with India-based crypto fund Crypto Relief and Polygon co founder Sandeep Nailwal to send $100 million towards COVID-19 research and medical infrastructure development in India.

Buterin and Nailwal will receive $90 million in USD Coin (USDC) from Crypto Relief, while Buterin will provide $10 million out of his own pocket to further the cause. The two will then help distribute the funds.

According to a January 2022 Twitter post from Nailwal, Crypto Relief will transfer the funds to Buterin in order for the India-based crypto fund to remain in full compliance with their local laws.

The first installment went towards tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in India through “emergency humanitarian relief.”

Crypto Relief describes itself as a community-run fund which has delivered financial relief to India during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buterin explained in a June 8 Twitter post that COVID-19 and “future pandemics” will continue to be a “large risk in the 21st century.” According to Buterin, we need a “global solution” that combines “frontier scientific innovation” and “on-the-ground implementation.”

Last year @CryptoRelief_ led by @sandeepnailwal allocated $100m to Covid research projects I wanted to fund

Sandeep and I discussed and jointly concluded these and other projects are high-impact and need follow through grants. Hence we decided to put $100m more to these projects
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) June 8, 2023

Buterin said much of the COVID-19 research will focus on COVID-19 airborne transmission by building better medical equipment.

“This includes improving ventilation, HEPA filtering, and experimental tech like UVC irradiation,” he said.

The other main research area will focus on “Long COVID,” Buterin added.

“The most salient risks from Covid today are the very high number of people experiencing very-long-term symptoms (aka #LongCovid), and so Long Covid research continues to be a primary focus.”

We look forward to ongoing collaboration between our teams and our networks. Covid won't end on its own, and there continues to be ongoing risk that the pandemic/hyperendemic will return to a more acute state:https://t.co/vxyd5n27rt
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) June 8, 2023

Additionally, Buterin explained that the $100 million will be disbursed to a Gnosis Safe wallet using the following contract address.

The first $100 million donation was deployed by Buterin in late January 2022 or soon after, which initially came in the form of Shiba Inu (SHIB).

CryptoRelief sending $100m of the $SHIBA funds back to me. I plan to personally deploy these funds with the help of science advisors to complement CryptoRelief's existing excellent work with some higher-risk higher-reward covid science and relief projects worldwide. https://t.co/xvHxzwwdn8
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 28, 2022

It isn’t the first philanthropic effort of Buterin’s either.

In April 2022, Buterin sent $5 million worth of Ether (ETH) donations to “Aid for Ukraine” to assist its defence against Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

As of November 26, Crypto Relief has managed to raise $473 million in funds, according to the firm’s website.

Cointelegraph reached out to Crypto Relief to get a more up-to-date figure but did not receive an immediate response.

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Zambia’s crypto regulation tests to be wrapped by June: Report

April 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Africa

According to Zambia Tech Minister Felix Mutati, the country needs digital identities and other necessary digital infrastructures before it introduces crypto.

Cryptocurrency regulation tests aiming to help shape crypto laws in Zambia that simulate the real-world use of crypto are on track to finish by June.

In an April 12 Reuters interview, Zambia’s innovation, science and technology minister, Felix Mutati, said the purpose of conducting the tests was to help the government “see what would happen in the real world,” to assist in forming crypto regulations.

Zambia’s central bank and securities regulator commenced the tests on Feb. 19, which Mutati said was looking to balance safety and innovation:

“Our main goal in the area of cryptocurrency is to strike a balance between innovation in terms of digital payments [...] against citizens’ safety, particularly given that cryptocurrency is very volatile.”

Additionally, Mutati stated that before cryptocurrencies can be introduced, digital identities and other digital infrastructures need to be implemented.

Although Zambia’s debt restructuring process has been “long delayed,” with the largest portion of its debt owed to creditors from China, Mutati suggested it hasn’t deterred investment in Zambia.

“What we are seeing is increased appetite to invest in Zambia.”

Zambia was the first African country to default at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In a separate April 12 Reuters report, the country’s treasury secretary, Felix Nkulukusa, said thathe nation could lose the gains it achieved from its macroeconomic reforms if the debt restructuring is delayed further.

We continue engaging people on how we can achieve digital financial inclusion. pic.twitter.com/twoMnmI4BK
— Felix Chipota Mutati (@ChipotaFelix) April 6, 2023

When Mutati initially announced the country would be testing technology for crypto regulation on Feb. 19, he stated that “through digital payment platforms, people will become much more included in digital financial services.”

He added that “cryptocurrency will be a driver for financial inclusion and a change maker for Zambia’s economy.”

Many countries in the African region have made moves toward crypto adoption in recent times.

The Central African Republic made Bitcoin legal tender in April 2022, along with a regulatory framework for the use of cryptocurrency in the country.

It was reported on Dec. 18 that the Nigerian government plans to pass a new law in the near future that will recognize “cryptocurrency and other digital funds as capital for investment,” despite banning crypto activity in 2021.

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The government should fear AI, not crypto: Galaxy Digital CEO

March 29, 2023 Coin Telegraph

artificial intelligence

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz believes regulators have got it "completely upside-down" on crypto vs AI regulation.

Mike Novogratz, the CEO of digital asset investment firm Galaxy Digital told investors he is shocked over the amount of regulatory attention for crypto rather than artificial intelligence (AI), a technology he believes will trigger a “deep fake” identity crisis.

The chief executive explained at the firm’s fourth-quarter conference call on March 28 that the U.S. government has it “completely upside-down” in choosing to focus so much on crypto regulation and yet turn a blind eye to AI:

“When I think about AI, it shocks me that we’re talking so much about crypto regulation and nothing about AI regulation. I mean, I think the government’s got it completely upside-down.”

This concern appeared to stem from Novogratz’s fear that AI will trigger a “deep fake” identity crisis.

“In lots of ways, one of the best use cases for crypto is going to be identity around AI, because pretty soon you’re going to get a fake Mike Novogratz, hopefully with hair [...] how do you prove identity in a world like that?” he said.

AI portrait Van Novo pic.twitter.com/ESnenSDmdb
— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) July 16, 2022

However, he believes blockchain-based applications will play a “huge role” in combating some of the issues presented by AI:

“Crypto and blockchain is going to have a huge role in that. It is dumb to think that we should cache this industry because of Sam Bankman-Fried in his Bermuda shorts, period.”

That said, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently engaged in talks about AI and its impacts with the Technology Advisory committee last week.

Seller exhaustion, China easing

As for the current state of the market, Novogratz said “seller exhaustion” and the reopening of China has helped the crypto industry recover remarkably thus far in 2023.

“All the selling that needed to get done got done, right? There was so much bad news, if you had to sell, panic selling and just the nervousness of “Oh my God! This thing could go to zero,” and people were in sheer panic, you had seller’s exhaustion,” he said.

Following a tough zero-COVID approach by the Chinese government, Novogratz said he has since noticed more crypto activity coming out of China.

“China took the regulatory boot off the necks of their tech companies, and that includes crypto, [so] you’re seeing more activity from Asia.”

From a more technical lens, Novogratz was confident that the crypto market will continue in an upwards trajectory throughout the remainder of 2023:

“The market feels strong, and when I look at it technically on charts, we’ve had big weekly closes. I’m surprised to hear myself say this, given where my mindset was in late December, but it would not surprise if we were substantially higher three months, six months, nine months from now.”

The strong rebound in the crypto market reflected well on Galaxy’s balance sheet too with the firm today revealing in its quarterly results that it finally swung back into profit after a tough loss of $1 billion in 2022.

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COVID-19