Los cubanos no tienen Visa ni Mastercard, pero cuentan con PayWithMoon, plataforma que les permite cargar una tarjeta prepaga virtual con bitcoin (BTC). No pueden usar bancos, pero encontraron en bitcoin un banco que no requiere intermediarios y que funciona entre individuos. No son aceptados por Stripe, la omnipresente red de pagos por internet, pero pueden hacer transferencias en segundos a través de Lightning Network.
“Please be informed that Lending is no longer supported in your jurisdiction. For this reason, we are required to cancel your current loans,” the exchange told two customers, one French, one German, via emails reviewed by CoinDesk. Neither had lending accounts open with the company, they said.
“We don’t care if what you’re doing is forming a proposal, voting, generating fees, defining roles, resetting network variables, forming a partnership with another DAO, or signing a contract,” McCurley explained in an interview. “With our module interface, you can create any specific functionality like that, and MVD will translate it effectively into smart contract operations.”
“The Market Report” with Cointelegraph is live right now. On this week’s show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss which Terra-based coins you should be looking out for in 2022.
But first, market expert Marcel Pechman carefully examines the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down.
Next up, the main event. Join Cointelegraph analysts Benton Yaun, Jordan Finneseth and Sam Bourgi as they debate which Terra-based coin has the most explosive potential. Will it be Bourgi’s pick of StarTerra, which capitalizes on blockchains’ biggest trends — play-to-earn, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and staking — basically combining multiple multibillion-dollar industries?
Bringing his pick to the table next is Yuan with Loop Finance, which aims to launch the world’s first decentralized finance NFT marketplace that will include NFTs linked directly to DeFi protocols such as Anchor Protocol? It will also launch a content creation platform where creators will be rewarded in LOOPR tokens for creating quality crypto content. There is a lot happening with the project, but will it be enough to win the votes of the audience?
Lastly, we have Finneseth with his pick of Mirror Protocol, which is currently the sixth-ranked protocol by total value locked on Terra, with $594.63 million locked on the protocol. Assets on the protocol “mirror” versions of real-world assets by reflecting the exchange prices on-chain. These assets include Apple, Airbnb, Amazon, Microsoft, PayPal and Tesla stock along with major cryptocurrencies. It seems like a clear winner, but you’ll have to wait and see.
After the showdown, we’ve got insights from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, a platform for crypto traders who want to stay one step ahead of the market. The analysts use Cointelegraph Markets Pro to identify two altcoins that stood out this week: Anchor Protocol’s ANC and Waves WAVES.
Do you have a question about a coin or topic not covered here? Don’t worry. Join the YouTube chat room, and write your questions there. The person with the most interesting comment or question will be given a free month of Cointelegraph Markets Pro, worth $100.
“The Market Report” streams live every Tuesday at 12:00 pm ET (5:00 pm UTC), so be sure to head on over to Cointelegraph’s YouTube page and smash those like and subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
@2022 CoinDesk
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
@2022 CoinDesk
Blockmetrix plans to grow rapidly by using the maximum amount of available capital and debt to buy mining rigs, while controlling power costs through various joint ventures, CEO and co-founder Nevin Bannister told CoinDesk. “Through [joint ventures] we will obtain part-ownership of a co-location facility to ensure low power rates and a place to house our bitcoin miners,” he said.
Proceeds from the collection will be donated to Red Cross Ukraine and UNICEF. The collection, titled “Vandalz for Ukraine: WhIsBe x Wladimir Klitschko,” was made in partnership with artist WhIsBe, and will be available to mint in a tiered pricing model for $100, $1,000 and $10,000.
“Those that had bet against the metal’s rise in value have now been forced to buy at a much higher price, creating a short squeeze,” explained Susannah Streeter, an investment analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, in an email to CoinDesk. “It’s likely a big margin call prompted the suspension of trading, with sharp gains forcing speculators to scramble for additional capital to put into accounts to cover the shortfall.”
Mama Bitcoin is the pseudonym claimed by a young Senegalese Bitcoiner called Bineta. Her business, Bleu comme la mer, was the first retailer in Senegal (and possibly West Africa) to accept crypto as payment. She’s also the first generation of her family to read and write proficiently.
The name Mama Bitcoin takes inspiration from the initials of her name, while the “mama” not only reflects her motherly instincts but serves to inspire other women in West Africa to get into blockchain technology and Bitcoin (BTC). She told Cointelegraph:
“There are very few women that are active in the blockchain space around the world and the situation is no different in Senegal. I wanted to shine a light on being a woman in the crypto industry.”
Bineta first stumbled across Bitcoin in early 2017 thanks to a curious combination of good intentions and incongruous circumstances. Bineta had dreams of opening her village’s first bakery, a small fishing village called Mbour 90 minutes south of Senegal‘s capital, Dakar. But, in order to deliver warm pains au chocolat to the community each morning, Bineta needed money.
It’s incredibly difficult to get a bank loan for a business idea in West Africa, and it’s even harder for women. Bineta had to search for alternative means. She tried a multi-level marketing scheme (MLM) before hearing from a friend in Cameroon that Bitcoin might fit the bill.
After copious research, Bineta‘s curiosity sparked. She quickly realized that Bitcoin was far more important for her vision than a potentially risky MLM scheme. Fast-forward to mid-2017 and Mama Bitcoin had spent hours and hours devouring Bitcoin-related content in French and in English, translating where possible.
She’d arrived at the conclusion that Bitcoin is more than just a “number go up” technology — it could build far more than a new village bakery:
“The more I learned, the more I realized we need this. This kind of money will help overcome so many issues. Not only is Bitcoin a tool for freedom, but the technology underpinning Bitcoin such as blockchain and decentralization will change Africa‘s development.”
The journey down the Bitcoin rabbit hole shifted Bineta‘s plans up a gear. The bakery (Bineta jokes it would have been called the Bitcoin Boulangerie) was dropped and a vision for Bitcoin in West Africa took its place.
As the progress and the price of Bitcoin rose during the 2017 bull run, her understanding of the protocol evolved.
“Bitcoin isn’t just a means of self-financing without using a bank, it’s a technological revolution and a way of unlocking growth and development in Senegal.”
Questions such as “why is it so big yet why do so few Senegalese people talk about it, why is the media avoiding this critical topic, why doesn’t Senegal use this tool and why are there so few women talking about it?” kept swirling in her head.
Bineta set to work, penning articles about Bitcoin on social media websites, reaching out to the Senegalese Bitcoin and crypto community and reevaluating her goals.
Drawing from past experience in business and given the proximity of Senegal to the Atlantic ocean, Bineta allowed herself to dream bigger. She conceived then established an ambitious seaside operation called Bleu comme la mer.
A fishing commerce platform, Bleu comme la mer connects fishermen directly with consumers, removing the middleman. It is the first business in Senegal to accept Bitcoin as payment. They also accept Ether (ETH) and Tezos (XTZ). In fact, Mama Bitcoin founded the Tezos community in West Africa.
Sardines, shrimp, octopus and squid — anything that can be fished from the Atlantic — are available to buy with cryptocurrency on the platform. Bineta adds:
“Payment with cryptocurrencies shows that, contrary to what many people think, Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment solution, not a speculative asset.”
The blockchain vision extends merely beyond cryptocurrency payments. Bineta has focused on making Bleu comme la Mer into a decentralized e-commerce platform where fishermen log their catches and consumers can see exactly what was fished and from where.
Not only does the decentralized platform aim to streamline the fishing industry, but it also strives to undermine overfishing, a harmful yet common activity in West Africa’s waters.
Related: One man’s plan to orange pill a nation: Bitcoin Senegal
Nonetheless, “Senegalese and West Africans are quite skeptical about Bitcoin.” Getting more women into crypto, a passion project of hers, remains a long-standing challenge.
However, there is hope. At Dakar’s first in-person Bitcoin meetup in 2022, there were three women out of 20 participants. It’s a small but strong start, undoubtedly boosted by Mama Bitcoin‘s infectious energy and zest for cryptocurrency.
