Kategorie: Crypto Business

• MetaMask and MoonPay have partnered to enable more Nigerians to buy crypto directly via instant bank transfers.
• About 12.4 million Nigerians own crypto, with the country the third largest MetaMask market in the world.
• ConsenSys said in a press release that the integration will help expand crypto adoption across Africa.

Nigerians can now buy crypto with bank transfers directly from their MetaMask wallet app, Web3-focused crypto company ConsenSys has announced. 

The offering follows a partnership between MetaMask and Web3 payment provider MoonPay, ConsenSys said in a press release on Tuesday.

Crypto and Web3 adoption in Africa

Africa is one of the fastest growing cryptocurrency markets, with millions of people using crypto for payments and as an investment. 

The integration of seamless crypto purchases via bank transfers means buying bitcoin or other crypto in Nigeria will significantly improve, given nearly 90% of attempts to do so with credit or debit card often failed, the company noted.  

According to MetaMask Senior Product Manager Lorenzo Santos, expanding MoonPay’s payment infrastructure in Nigeria is a step towards reducing challenges that come with fiat on-ramps.

“This is an essential next step in a critical market that has embraced crypto and web3 but faces serious challenges when using fiat to crypto on-ramp. We are reducing friction and bringing down barriers to keep supporting Nigerians as they onboard into web3,” he noted.

MetaMask and MoonPay’s integration also means that people looking to buy cryptocurrencies in Nigeria can do so without having to open accounts on centralized crypto exchanges.

Recent research shows that Nigeria ranks highest on the continent in terms of crypto owners, with an estimated 12.4 million Nigerians, or 5.7% of the country’s population, said to own cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, Nigeria is the third largest MetaMask market globally in terms of mobile active users.

ConsenSys and MoonPay plan to extend the on-ramp experience to more users across Africa, with the service set for rollout in Kenya, South Africa and Botswana in April.

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• Polygon Labs and Immutable are eyeing faster and seamless onboarding of Web3 game developers and users.
• The launch of a zkEVM powered platform for studios and developers is expected in a few months’ time.
• Immutable zkEVM will see users benefit from true ownership of in-game assets.

Polygon Labs and gaming platform Immutable have announced a strategic partnership that aims at developing a zero-knowledge powered blockchain platform for Web3 gaming.

The new EVM-compatible ZK-rollup is dubbed “Immutable zkEVM” and will be powered by Polygon’s zero-knowledge technology. Polygon said in a blog release that they expect Immutable zkEVM to go live in coming months, promising full support for developers and users on Immutable.

Both MATIC and Immutable X were trading lower after the partnership news, with altcoins down as Bitcoin looked to cement gains above $28,000.

Immutable zkEVM to boost Web3 gaming

Per the announcement, integrating with Immutable zkEVM will see studios and game developers benefit from “faster, easier and less risky” development of Web3 games.

Immutable zkEVM will help accelerate Web3 adoption, Polygon Labs president Ryan Wyatt said, noting that the partnership is a huge step in the quest to empower developers. Also benefitting immensely from the platform will be users, who can now enjoy true ownership of in-game assets.

“By leveraging Immutable’s top world-class gaming platform, game development becomes seamless, allowing for the creation of rich and unique gaming experiences,” he added.

The collaboration between Polygon and Immutable comes just a week before Polygon zkEVM launches on mainnet beta. Numerous blockchain gaming projects are building on Polygon, with notable brands including Ubisoft, Animoca, Atari, Decentraland, and The Sandbox.

The post Polygon and Immutable partner to accelerate Web3 game development appeared first on CoinJournal.

• A judge at the New York bankruptcy court denied the Department of Justice’s request on Wednesday.
• The DOJ wanted the court to stop Binance.US from completing its $1 billion deal for Voyager.
• Judge Michael E. Wiles said pausing the deal pending government appeal would only hurt Voyager clients.

Binance.US, the US-regulated subsidiary of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume Binance, should go ahead to complete its $1 billion acquisition of Voyager Digital, a bankruptcy judge has ruled.

In a court ruling on Wednesday, Michael E. Wiles, United States Bankruptcy Judge at the Southern District of New York court, denied the US government’s request to halt Binance.US’ bid for Voyager, citing the impact this is having on customers of the bankrupt crypto lender.

Judge rules Binance.US-Voyager deal to go ahead

The US Department of Justice appealed Judge Wiles’ ruling that allowed Voyager to sell its assets to Binance.US, a decision the bankruptcy judge gave on 9 March this year. In its appeal via the US Trustee’s Office, the DOJ wanted the acquisition halted until a number of legal objections were settled.

According to the government, allowing the process to continue as determined by the court could see Voyager and its staff likely absolved of tax or securities laws violations.

But in his ruling, Judge Wiles noted that the $1 billion deal that he approved last week does not include such exemptions. He added that halting the process will only hurt Voyager customers even further, with people having waited for an opportunity to access their crypto assets since the company stopped withdrawals in July last 2022.

BNB price jumps 6% after the news

Binance.US was approved to acquire Voyager for $1 billion in December 2022, as CoinJournal reported. The deal appeared to be hitting the rocks before the bankruptcy court allowed it to proceed. 

Now, following the latest ruling, an agreement between Voyager and Binance has the deal set for execution on 20 March, having originally been slated for 15 March.

The reaction to the news from the Binance community saw the price of the native BNB token jump 6% to $328 as of 11:00 am ET on Thursday. The Voyager VGX token, which rallied following last week’s court ruling, was also up today, trading 9% higher at $0.344700.

The post Binance.US acquisition of Voyager to proceed, bankruptcy judge rules appeared first on CoinJournal.

Key takeaways

• Meta is ending support for NFTs on Instagram and Facebook.

• The company introduced the NFT feature roughly a year ago.

• Meta said it would focus on other ways to support businesses and creators.

Meta’s NFT integration comes to an end

Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial services, announced on Monday that the social media giant is ending its support for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on its social media platforms. 

Some product news: across the company, we’re looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. 🧵[1/5]

— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 13, 2023

According to Kasriel, the decision was prompted by Meta’s desire to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. He said;

“A big Thank You to the partners who joined us on this journey and who are doing great work in a dynamic space. Proud of the relationships we built. And look forward to supporting the many NFT creators who continue using Instagram and Facebook to amplify their work. We learned a ton that we’ll be able to apply to products we’re continuing to build to support creators, people, and businesses on our apps, both today and in the metaverse.”

Meta introduced its NFT feature on May 10, 2022. By August, the social media giant had expanded the NFT feature to capture 100 countries in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Middle-East, and Africa.

By September, Meta introduced a new feature that allowed users on both Facebook and Instagram apps to share and cross-post their digital collectibles.

Meta to focus on other products

Despite winding down support for NFTs, Kasriel said Meta continues to pursue various ways it can help creators connect with their fans. The social media giant will focus on other products, including Reels, for messaging and monetisation.

Meta added that it would continue to work with NFT and web3 content creators who take advantage of its various tools to help them grow their community. Kasriel wrote;

“And we’ll continue investing in fintech tools that people and businesses will need for the future. We’re streamlining payments w/ Meta Pay, making checkout & payouts easier, and investing in messaging payments across Meta.”

Despite the initial traction, the social media giant is shifting its strategy in a bid to explore other areas. 

The post Meta to end support for NFTs on Facebook and Instagram appeared first on CoinJournal.

• HSBC bought the UK arm of collapsed US bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) for £1.
• SVB collapsed last week, sending shock waves across the banking and finance industry as well as crypto.
• Businesses and customers can now continue to access withdrawals as normal.

HSBC, the British multinational bank and financial services giant, has acquired the UK arm of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank.

According to a BBC news report on Monday, HSBC has scooped up the SVB unit for just £1.

Bank of England and HM Treasury work to help SVB customers

The last few days have been a real scare to millions of bank customers and businesses, not just in the US but also in the UK. The main story here has been the demise of Silicon Valley Bank – deemed the second largest such banking collapse in US history in terms of the amount of money involved.

The market reaction was drastic, with bank stocks hit hard as contagion fears mounted. Cryptocurrencies also plummeted as Silicon Valley Bank was one of the main crypto-friendly banks, alongside Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank. As CoinJournal reported earlier today, US authorities have shut down the latter.

As the US Treasury and FDIC worked to avert a calamity for SVB depositors, including moving to shut down Signature Bank, authorities in the UK also took cue to help UK-based customers. This is after hundreds of tech firms had sounded the alarm as SVB collapsed.

The Bank of England and the UK government reportedly worked overnight Sunday to strike a deal between SVB (UK) and HSBC. With the acquisition now in place, around 3,000 businesses are set to access their money.

According to a news update from the HM Treasury, the HSBC-SVB deal did not involve any taxpayer money.

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