ACR #20: Another one bites the dust
Nigerian crypto payment startup, Lazerpay has shut down its business operations. According to the statement released by the cofounder and CEO, Njoku Emmanuel, on Thursday, the crypto startup, which was touted as the ‘African Stripe’, had to shut up shop because they were unable to close a successful funding round.
Lazerpay was a crypto payment gateway startup the 20-year-old Njoku co-founded with Abdulfatai Suleiman and Prosper Ubi in October 2021. It allowed businesses & creators to receive crypto payments from anywhere in the world.
What this means
What are the chances of announcing two high-profile African crypto companies shutting down in consecutive editions of this newsletter? We predicted at the beginning of the year that it was going to be a tough year for crypto startups on the continent. And, unfortunately, it’s turning out to be so.
Let’s not get carried away with the price action from bitcoin and ethereum, both have risen by more than 50% year-to-date; startups operating in the crypto space still have problems raising new funds, just like every other startup on the continent. A recent report by Disrupt Africa noted that funding into African tech startups more than halved in Q1 of 2023 compared to the same period last year.
Lazerpay announced in November 2022 that the lead investor for its new funding round pulled out because of economic uncertainty and market conditions. It laid off some employees because of that.
In a not-so-bull market, it’s expected for crypto startups to be evaluated like a fintech, and without real fundamentals, most wouldn’t get new funding. Crypto payments haven’t shown meaningful adoption anywhere in the world. Even Nigeria’s central bank is struggling to gain adoption for its own digital currency payment solution, e-naira, though it has the largest distribution network through commercial banks.
There’s clearly a gap in the online payment market for crypto to fill, but how big is that gap right now? Investors seem to think it’s not that big yet, and Lazerpay has been forced to sunset its product.
What else?
Zambia to finish cryptocurrency regulation tests by June -minister
Zambia will complete simulations of cryptocurrency use by the end of June to help it form new crypto regulations to strike a balance between innovation and consumer protection.
Web3 economy to gain more traction in Africa through DeFi-based financial inclusion
Fonbnk, the Web3 on-ramp that allows Africans to obtain cryptocurrency assets by exchanging their airtime credits, has partnered with Tanda, a merchant network platform in East Africa, to launch an airtime trading marketplace across Tanda’s network of agents.
Zebedee Partnership With Bitnob Sees African Gamers Rewarded With BTC
Zebedee, a fintech and payments processor targeting gaming, has partnered with crypto exchange platform Bitnob to offer payments and gaming reward options in Africa using the Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN).
Funds Stolen from Flutterwave System Reportedly Used to Purchase USDT on Binance Open Market
Nigerian fintech, Flutterwave, has continued to deny mounting claims that its systems were breached and funds stolen.
Mukuru, one of Africa's leading fintech service providers, has launched a first-of-its-kind drive-thru service in Chisipite, Harare, to make financial services more accessible to people in Zimbabwe.
YellowCard and Block Partner on tbDEX, a Fiat-Bitcoin Cross-Border Payments Decentralized Network
Through its Bitcoin developer platform, TBD, Block has joined forces with African crypto exchange, YellowCard, to enable access to a network of fiat on-and off-ramps and Bitcoin-based payments across 16 African nations.
Product of the week
HouseAfrica
HouseAfrica is Africa’s first blockchain-based land and property registry, which minimizes the time lawyers, banks, and other stakeholders spend to query and register land titles. Established in May 2018 by Nnamdi Uba and Ndifreke Ikpoku, HouseAfrica provides solutions to issues like duplicate land titles, low access to mortgages, and illegal sales of landed property.
Personality spotlight
Gaius Chibueze (Bitcoin Chief)
Gaius Chibueze bought his first Bitcoin in 2011 and started promoting it in 2015. He’s always claimed to be “the first Nigerian Bitcoin investor and one of Africa’s pioneers in the cryptocurrency space.”
What’s the meme?
What we are reading
Crypto’s Ethereum Network Completes Key Software Upgrade Without a Hitch
The U.S. Cracked a $3.4 Billion Crypto Heist—and Bitcoin’s Anonymity
That’s all for now. See you next week Monday!