In this week’s Africa news highlights, the Nigerian central bank blames speculators for causing the local currency’s plunge to a new all-time low on the parallel market. In Kenya, the central bank has told financial institutions to cease having dealings with two Nigerian fintechs, Flutterwave and Chipper Cash. The Central African Republic’s token sale is
Developing a cryptocurrency token has been a complex task, as it requires advanced blockchain programming skills. Until recently, only blockchain developers with strong coding skills could create a mechanism to mint digital coins. This scenario, however, led to the development of platforms where anyone, not knowing even an iota of programming, could launch their cryptocurrencies.
Britain faces a protracted recession and the worst squeeze on living standards in more than 60 years, the Bank of England warned on Thursday, as it raised interest rates to their highest level since the onset of the global financial crisis. Eight of the Monetary Policy Committee’s nine members voted to raise interest rates by
Looking back over some old reviews recently, I found one where I absolutely leathered a place because, despite the fantastic food, I objected strongly to their completely “natural” wine list. What’s embarrassingly clear, reading it four years later, is how the experience made me feel impotent, disempowered and slighted. If I’d previously been in denial
Tourism in El Salvador has soared in the first half of 2022. Up 82.8% just this year, there were 1.1 million visitors to El Salvador this year, according to government figures. That’s despite the price of Bitcoin (BTC) sinking almost 50% since Jan. 1. Data from the World Travel Organization reinforces the claims. The tiny
The National Power Administration of Paraguay has proposed to set a special mining fee for cryptocurrency mining operations in a decree project directed to the national economic team. Due to the immense losses the organization has faced, it has stopped supplying energy to some mining operations that were evading the payment of power bills, being
Growth in the UK is projected to be lower than its peers in the coming years, and inflation is expected to be higher and more persistent. But I think it is worth looking at an underpriced risk: that a muddled government response might accidentally set the already-ruined British state ablaze because ministers lack a clear
A new study has ranked Nigeria as the country most curious about cryptocurrency post the April crypto market crash. The same study findings show Kenya as the second-highest ranked African country. According to Bobby Ong, co-founder of Coingecko, the countries topping the list seem more interested in buying the dip and this highlights “their long-term
The Italian resort town of Porto Cervo sits at the center of Costa Smeralda, a moneyed tourist destination in Sardinia known for its beaches, golf courses and upscale hotels. Adele stopped in recently with her beau Rich Paul for a hotel stay while on a cruise vacation. Superyachts line the pier. Lamborghini is once again
Several solutions can potentially improve cross-border payments significantly and central bank digital currency (CBDC) could be the “holy grail,” according to the European Central Bank (ECB). In a new report, the eurozone’s monetary authority also claims stablecoins, among other options, are “problematic.” ‘Holy Grail’ of Cross-Border Payments in Reach Through CBDC, European Central Bank Insists
Many real estate analysts are forecasting U.S. house prices to fall because mortgage interest rates have risen so much. Some are expecting small declines, others, large, but most mention that house prices are “sticky” on the downside and because of that they don’t expect prices to start falling until many months after house sales have
Dozens of men and boys, covered head to toe in coal dust, stream in and out of the mine shafts bored deep into a mountain in northern Afghanistan. In the mines below Nahrain in Baghlan province, children as young as eight work as labourers, loading the fossil fuel on to donkeys which carry it to
Chinese rhetoric was running so hot ahead of Nancy Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan this week that many people watching livestreams of the historic moment on state-controlled websites were surprised when her plane touched down at Taipei’s Songshan Airport. Why, some wondered, had the People’s Liberation Army Air Force not forced the US House of Representatives
Is Beyoncé still a pop star? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself over the past week as I walked around Brooklyn, where her latest album has been blasting steadily from cars and portable speakers, providing a soundtrack to late summer barbecues and block parties. I even witnessed one man playing Renaissance loudly through his
The latest crypto market research from Bloomberg Intelligence suggests that Bitcoin may start to behave more like United States (U.S.) Treasury bonds and gold, rather than stocks. In its August Crypto Outlook report, penned by Senior Commodity Strategist Mike McGlone and Senior Market Structure Analyst Jamie Coutts, the research unit compared Bitcoin markets to those of
The number of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains is nearing the two million mark as 1,888,209 ENS names have been etched into the Ethereum blockchain to date. The project recently detailed that July saw the largest monthly rise in revenue scoring 5,400 ether worth roughly $2.48 million during the course of the month. ENS Registrations
Megan Mohr was five years into her Apple career when, in 2013, a male colleague took advantage of her after a platonic night out drinking together. After the colleague drove her home and helped her inside, she briefly fell asleep before waking to the sound of clicking. The colleague had removed her shirt and bra.
Last week something unusual happened. A chief executive who presided over a UK corporate failure received a financial punishment. The case in question was particularly egregious: the collapse of construction company Carillion in 2018 with £7bn in liabilities and £29mn in cash. The fines for directors? At less than £400,000 a piece, maybe not so
Mastercard sees cryptocurrency as more of an asset class than a means of payment, according to the payments giant’s chief financial officer. Mastercard’s crypto strategy “has been fairly successful ever since crypto environments came up,” he added. Mastercard’s CFO on Crypto as Asset Class vs. Means of Payment Mastercard Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sachin Mehra
Victorian Police in Australia will soon be granted new powers to seize cryptocurrency and digital assets from criminals, as well as compel platforms to hand over information about suspects. According to a statement released by Victorian premier Daniel Andrews on Aug. 2, new laws were introduced to parliament on Tuesday under the Major Crime and