ACR #24: It's Time to Roll Up our Sleeves!
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A recent Pitchbook report shows that global crypto investment activity has been declining for four consecutive quarters, with the last quarter coming in at an 11% dip representing the lowest amount of capital raised since 2020.
In Africa, that has translated to many startups shutting down and others right-sizing to focus on what matters.
Recently, the founder of one of the African crypto startups that raised a massive round during the boom period in 2022, Yele Badamosi, recounted the disastrous events of 2022 and how they are restructuring to survive the expected drought in the next few quarters.
Nestcoin had raised USD 6.45 million at the beginning of February 2022 but lost about 60% of the funds in the FTX crash in late 2022. It had to lay off most employees of about 100 people.
“It was by far one of the most difficult things that has ever happened to me,” the CEO & founder told Techpoint recently.
Nestcoin was set up as an accelerator to build in-house crypto products and invest in and support other crypto startups. One of those crypto startups it invested in is Lazerpay, which has also shut down.
Now, it’s pivoting to focus on one crypto wallet product and also spinning out another standalone company called Metaverse Magna, a gaming guild, which will have its own CEO.
Another African web3 company, Mara, that raised a monster VC round of USD 23 million in 2022 from investors like Coinbase, Alameda Research (FTX) and Distributed Global also had to layoff a large portion of the company (plus many other employees taking significant pay cuts). It has also had to cut down on several products it was building to focus on just a crypto wallet.
It shows how fast things can change in the crypto space and how, unfortunately, the continent didn’t benefit from new, innovative products to acquire new users during the crypto venture boom in the last few years.
All that money raised, and all we’re left with is a couple of crypto communities on Telegram and mobile wallets.
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Yuki, a crypto infrastructure firm, has formed a partnership with Aladdin Digital, a neobank for small and medium businesses, to bring digital assets to the forefront in Africa.
Kenya considers tax on crypto, NFT transfers and online influencers
According to a newly introduced bill, Kenya’s lawmakers are considering introducing a 3% tax on cryptocurrency and nonfungible token transfers and a 15% tax on monetized online content.
Africa and Asia-Focused Fintech Jia Raises $4.3 Million in Seed Funding Round
Jia, a blockchain fintech startup, recently revealed it has raised $4.3 million in a seed funding round which was led by the early-stage consumer crypto fund TCG Crypto.
What’s the meme?
What we are reading
The Crypto For Good Landscape in Emerging Markets