africa

Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase announced its participation in Tech Against Scams and is collaborating with the UK's National Crime Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice Scam Center Strike Force, and international law enforcement partners to launch a joint crackdown week in London from October 6 to 9, sharing intelligence in real-time and coordinating actions against West African criminal scam networks.Coinbase stated that the relevant scam networks operate across platforms, seeking potential victims through social media, establishing trust via instant messaging, and using digital infrastructure and financial services to transfer illicit funds. As law enforcement and the industry intensify their crackdown on Southeast Asian scam hubs, criminal networks are expanding to other regions, including West Africa. This operation is hosted by the UK's National Crime Agency, bringing together technology, telecommunications, and financial companies to target the infrastructure, accounts, and payment systems that support scams.Coinbase Vice President Leah Bressack: The earlier crackdown on Southeast Asian scam hubs this year proved that coordinated actions between the industry and law enforcement are effective; as criminal networks attempt to rebuild in Africa, Coinbase's global intelligence team is tracking funds, freezing assets, and sharing intelligence in real-time. The tactics targeted include fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scams, impersonating law enforcement officials, and using fake video calls to carry out "arrests" to pressure transfers. Coinbase stated it will continue to collaborate with Tech Against Scams and law enforcement partners.

On October 12, the Pan-African commercial bank Ecobank signed a memorandum of understanding with the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System Co., Ltd. (CIPS) to strengthen the connectivity of RMB payments between China and Africa. The signing ceremony was held under the witness of the Minister of Finance and Budget of the Republic of Togo, coinciding with the official visit of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, to China.Ecobank Group CEO Jeremy Awori stated that the cooperation will enhance the connectivity between the Chinese RMB payment ecosystem and Ecobank's African network, aiming to facilitate Chinese companies' access to the African market and help African companies participate more effectively in the Chinese market. China is Africa's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade expected to reach approximately $348 billion by 2025. The cooperation is anticipated to make RMB payments smoother, reduce settlement complexity, and improve the accessibility of cross-border payment channels.Ecobank has had a presence in China since 2012 and has officially opened a new office in Beijing, with Chinese business teams in West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa, providing services such as trade financing, payments, cash management, and cross-border investments. The group's operations cover 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa as well as France, the UK, the UAE, and China, employing over 14,000 people and serving more than 32 million customers. Recently, it has also collaborated with institutions such as Bank of China (Mauritius), XTransfer, YiBao Payment, and Wanlihui.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that the losses associated with the scam center have reached 1.7 billion dollars. During the same period, law enforcement actions conducted in West Africa resulted in the arrest of 28 individuals.The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated that during a week-long coordinated law enforcement operation, law enforcement agencies removed over 3.7 million online accounts, pages, and groups, and identified over 11 million dollars in funds that could potentially be frozen.

According to Bloomberg, Absa Bank in Johannesburg, South Africa, has become the first bank in Africa to offer Bitcoin custody services, primarily targeting institutional clients, and will also provide custody services for other digital assets. Rob Downes, the head of digital assets at Absa's Corporate and Investment Banking division, stated that Bitcoin is the largest asset under custody at the bank, with plans to include more asset classes in the future. Absa did not immediately respond to Bitcoin Magazine's request for comment.Many banks around the world are gradually integrating or launching Bitcoin-related products and services. Some banks in the United States and Europe have begun offering crypto asset custody for institutional clients. In 2022, BNY Mellon became the first large bank in the United States to offer digital asset custody services; this month, Deutsche Bank announced plans to launch Bitcoin custody services for European businesses and institutional clients later in 2026.Africa has a large base of crypto-native users. A report by Chainalysis in 2025 shows that South Africa's on-chain value reached $36 billion, ranking second in Sub-Saharan Africa, only behind Nigeria's $92.1 billion; South Africa ranks 30th in the global crypto adoption index. Unlike Nigeria, the South African market is characterized by more institutional features, with a relatively clear regulatory framework that has issued hundreds of licenses to virtual asset service providers, attracting professional investors and traditional financial institutions.

According to official news, Tether announced a partnership with the fintech company Shiga to utilize its open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK) to launch self-custody financial products for individuals and institutions in Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.The two parties will launch two core products: the self-custody wallet ENTA for individuals and businesses, which supports deposits in fiat currency or Bitcoin, and holds and transfers Tether (USDT), Bitcoin, and Tether Gold (XAUT); and the infrastructure Pulse for banks and financial institutions, aimed at assisting institutions in customizing digital asset services for specific payment channels and fund settlement processes, and supporting institutions in deploying in a private environment to retain key control.In addition, Shiga is currently completing the final approval process for the digital asset license in Nigeria, and once approved, will conduct compliant digital asset trading, brokerage, and custody services in the country.

According to Bloomberg, South African digital asset companies have suspended transactions worth billions of rand due to regulatory adjustment plans.The proposed revision will incorporate cryptocurrencies into South Africa's foreign exchange control system and restrict their use in cross-border transactions.

The latest report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute shows that due to the Iran conflict, the annual blockchain transaction volume in the Middle East and North Africa is expected to reach $350 billion in 2025-2026, more than three times the approximately $100 billion in 2022. The report points out that regional conflicts typically accelerate capital outflows, but the Iran conflict presents a different dynamic: an increasing amount of capital is shifting towards digital assets, highlighting the growing role of cryptocurrencies (especially Bitcoin) as a hedge against economic and geopolitical uncertainty.The report states that after the outbreak of the conflict, Bitcoin initially fell in sync with other risk assets, but then investors shifted from higher-risk cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin, raising its market capitalization share to a one-month high of 64.8%. In countries like Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iran, due to currency devaluation, more people are increasingly using Bitcoin and dollar-pegged stablecoins to preserve value. Meanwhile, Gulf countries like the UAE and Bahrain are attracting crypto firms and institutional investors by establishing regulatory frameworks.Chainalysis data also shows that after the US-Israel airstrikes from February 28 to March 2, approximately $10.3 million left Iranian crypto exchanges. The report believes that in countries suffering from sanctions, conflict, or currency instability, cryptocurrencies have become tools for preserving and transferring value outside the traditional financial system, while regulated Gulf markets continue to attract institutional capital.

According to Ledger Insights, Africa Finance Corporation issued digital bonds worth 350 million Swiss francs (approximately 431 million USD) through the SDX platform of the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX). This marks the first time an African institution has issued digital bonds through a Central Securities Depository (CSD) and an exchange.The five-year bond has a coupon rate of 1.4925% and is one of the larger digital bonds on the platform, although UBS had previously issued bonds worth 375 million Swiss francs in 2022. This transaction was arranged by Commerzbank AG (technical lead) and Deutsche Bank.

The South African National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) have released a draft regulation for cross-border transfers of crypto assets. Farzam Ehsani, co-founder and CEO of the crypto asset trading platform VALR, stated that unless key terms are significantly modified, the relevant framework could harm the domestic digital asset industry and drive funds overseas.The draft allows individual residents to transfer crypto assets abroad within the existing foreign exchange limits but restricts companies from engaging in cross-border crypto asset transactions and categorizes some deposits from private non-custodial wallets as unacceptable transfers for local crypto asset service providers (CASP). Ehsani believes this could prompt businesses and retail investors to turn to overseas platforms.Ehsani pointed out that prohibiting regulated entities from processing legitimate business transactions, especially cross-border stablecoin payments, could push transactions underground or abroad, thereby undermining the visibility and monitoring capabilities that regulators hope to achieve. The South African National Treasury and SARB have opened a public consultation, with the feedback deadline set for September 30.

According to The New York Times, Chinese AI models are rapidly gaining popularity in the African developer community due to their low cost, open-source customization, and better handling of local languages, while leading American models like OpenAI and Anthropic are primarily closed-source and paid. Ugandan developer Ernest Mwebaze chose Alibaba's model over Meta or Google products when building a multilingual AI system called Sunflower aimed at local languages, which is now widely used by local farmers to obtain weather and planting information.The report states that similar adoption trends are spreading in countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana, covering multiple fields such as law, education, and business services. Chinese open-source models (such as DeepSeek and Qianwen) allow for free download and modification, while leading American models are often closed-source and paid, creating significant cost and accessibility differences in middle- and low-income countries. Industry insiders point out that the rapid penetration of Chinese AI in Africa is bringing long-term competitive pressure to American AI giants.

The South African National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) have jointly released the "Draft Manual on Cross-Border Crypto Asset Activities," which is now open for public consultation, with a deadline of September 30, 2026.This manual is implemented in conjunction with the previously released "Draft Regulations on Capital Flow Management 2026," aiming to strengthen the regulation of cross-border financial activities and prevent the risks of illegal fund flows related to crypto assets.The manual specifies the triggers for cross-border crypto asset transactions—when crypto assets are transferred between authorized CASPs in South Africa and foreign CASPs, or when they are transferred from an authorized CASP in South Africa to a non-custodial wallet, this constitutes cross-border capital inflow or outflow and must be reported to the Financial Surveillance Department (FinSurv).It is noteworthy that, at this stage, individuals are only allowed to conduct outbound crypto asset operations through authorized CASPs within a single discretionary limit or foreign capital limit, and South African entities are currently not permitted to engage in related cross-border operations.Furthermore, the manual does not currently differentiate between different types of crypto assets, nor does it classify crypto assets as South Africa's official currency.

Hyperliquid founder Jeff posted on platform X that VALR, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Africa, will directly utilize Hyperliquid's on-chain liquidity to support its core perpetual contract products. This is a significant milestone that will redefine the way the next generation of financial applications are built.The breakthrough in cloud computing lies in the ability for any startup to quickly test its ideas and rest assured that the infrastructure will scale as the business grows. As the most liquid global venue for assets like BTC, Hyperliquid will play the same role in the global economy. By leveraging the deepest on-chain liquidity, builders can shift their focus back to their products and users. Heartfelt congratulations to the VALR team. We are honored that they chose to build on Hyperliquid. Looking forward to expanding together.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) recently released the "Draft Guidelines on Taxation of Crypto Assets," seeking public input on how South African tax residents should declare and handle income related to crypto assets, with a feedback deadline of August 31.The guidelines focus on the provisions in tax law that are most closely related to crypto assets and do not cover all applicable sections. Some provisions, although not explicitly mentioning crypto assets, are also applicable to related trading activities.The guidelines state that South Africa's income tax system is residency-based. With specific exceptions, South African tax residents must pay tax on their worldwide income, including income and capital gains from crypto assets listed on foreign exchanges; non-residents may also have tax obligations if their income source is South Africa or if the disposed assets meet the relevant provisions.

AI Agent Economic Settlement Agreement AEON announced its expansion into the Zambian market, achieving real-time fiat settlement of cryptocurrency assets with the Zambian Kwacha (ZMW) by integrating with local mainstream mobile wallets Airtel Money and MTN Mobile Money.AEON has covered over 50 million merchants globally. This integration not only opens up Web3 retail channels for over 70% of local e-wallet users but also builds the underlying payment infrastructure for global AI agents in the programmatic high-frequency settlement of the African real economy. AEON will also expand its AI agent settlement network to emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

According to on-chain data monitored by Catcher Predict, significant capital movements are predicted in the Polymarket market. A large whale invested $99,999.94 in a single bet on "Canada" in the event "South Africa vs. Canada." Based on the current transaction price, the latest corresponding winning probability for this bet is 43%.

According to on-chain data monitored by Catcher Predict, significant capital movements are predicted in the Polymarket market. A large whale invested $80,844.91 in "South Africa vs. South Korea" event, specifically targeting "South Korea." Based on the current transaction price, the latest corresponding winning probability for this target is 58%.

According to Protos, the decentralized lending protocol Goldfinch, led by a16z and aimed at serving the unbanked population in Africa, is in crisis.On-chain data shows that among the 8 borrowers in the project, 2 have officially defaulted, and 6 have entered debt restructuring, with total losses exceeding $18 million. Depositors are lamenting that "the $50 million has gone down the drain." Its native token GFI has fallen from a peak of $32.94 in January 2022 to below $0.07, a decline of 99.8%, and the project's market value has shrunk from a peak of $390 million to less than $6 million.Goldfinch had previously lent over $100 million to borrowers in 18 countries, including motorcycle rental companies in Kenya and salary advance platforms in Nigeria, but the core issue lies in the severe lack of off-chain credit verification, with borrowers frequently misappropriating funds and refusing to repay. As the default rate rises, the project has quietly abandoned its positioning in emerging markets in Africa, shifting towards institutional credit funds like Ares and Apollo, rendering its original vision of inclusive finance a mere facade.

According to on-chain data monitored by Catcher Predict, significant capital movements are predicted in the Polymarket market. A large whale invested $100,000.18 in "Czech vs South Africa" event, specifically targeting "Czech." Based on the current transaction price, the latest corresponding winning probability for this subject is 49%.