Author: Opeloyeru Batly

UN Says Terrorists in Nigeria Are Using Drones and Crypto to Boost Operations. The Nigeria crypto and drone threat by terrorists has caught the attention of the highest levels of global security governance. On 20 July 2026, the United Nations Security Council received a stark briefing from Leonardo Simão, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel. His message was direct. Terrorist groups operating in northern Nigeria and across the wider West African and Sahel region are becoming more sophisticated, and cryptocurrency is now part of their operational toolkit. “Armed groups are increasingly using drones, sophisticated…

Tanzania regulatory framework for crypto is no longer a question of if. It is a question of when. On 13 July 2026, Bank of Tanzania Governor Emmanuel Tutuba announced that the central bank has completed a comprehensive study on digital assets and is now finalising regulations for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and virtual assets. He made the announcement at the 50th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair which is one of East Africa’s most prominent economic forums.The announcement marks a dramatic shift. In 2019, the Bank of Tanzania explicitly warned citizens against trading crypto, citing unregulated risks and violations of foreign exchange…

While people think about crypto when they hear blockchain, Nnamdi Uba, CEO of Sytemap, believes the technology’s most important African application has nothing to do with trading, but land ownership. Louis Dike, founder of CoinAfrica, sat down with Uba to discuss how Sytemap is using blockchain to fix Africa’s broken land ownership system. The conversation covered corruption, government bureaucracy, women’s property rights, and why blockchain land ownership in Africa is a bigger opportunity than most people in the crypto space have noticed. The Problem That Started Everything Uba did not set out to build a land registry. He started with…

SCRYPT has expanded its licensed stablecoin settlement infrastructure across four East African markets, introducing direct payment corridors that allow businesses to convert local currencies into stablecoins without first sourcing US dollars. The rollout covers the Kenyan shilling (KES), Tanzanian shilling (TZS), Ugandan shilling (UGX), and Rwandan franc (RWF). It is designed to help banks, payment providers, and corporate treasury teams reduce foreign exchange costs while speeding up cross-border settlements. The move comes as African businesses continue to face persistent dollar shortages, volatile exchange rates, and expensive correspondent banking networks that slow international trade. SCRYPT Targets Africa’s Dollar Liquidity Challenge Access…

For years, building a digital asset company in Nigeria meant operating without a clear rulebook. Founders took on regulatory risk as a cost of doing business. That is beginning to change, and in our recent interview with GetEquity CEO Jude Dike, he talked about having lived through both sides of that shift. At the beginning of July 2026, GetEquity received approval to enter Nigeria’s SEC ARIC sandbox, the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation program for digital asset issuance and trade. Only eight or nine companies currently sit inside it. For Dike, the approval is not just a licence milestone. It is confirmation…

Luno has submitted its response to South Africa’s proposed Capital Flow Management Regulations, urging policymakers to adopt a balanced approach that supports innovation while addressing financial crime and illicit capital flows. The submission follows the publication of draft regulations by the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), which seek to bring cross-border crypto asset transactions within South Africa’s capital flow management framework. The public consultation formed part of the government’s broader effort to modernise exchange control rules and improve oversight of digital assets. Rather than opposing regulation, Luno said it supports a clear and predictable framework. However,…

More than five years have passed since iCE3X entered voluntary liquidation. The case is still unresolved. Now the dispute over what happened to its assets is playing out in public. Gareth Grobler, the former sole director of iCE3X, has pushed back against the liquidators’ claims. They allege that more than R30 million in crypto assets remain unaccounted for. However, Grobler says he has never seen fully verified figures supporting that shortfall. His response came after liquidators Marthinus Breytenbach and Gottlieb Moabelo filed a court affidavit. They applied to the Master of the High Court for a further extension until 31…

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) plans to strengthen oversight of the country’s growing digital asset market. It wants to acquire a blockchain analytics platform that can track cryptocurrency transactions across more than 20 blockchain networks. The move marks one of the regulator’s first major enforcement actions since Kenya introduced the Virtual Assets Service Providers (VASP) Act. The CMA is not creating new restrictions. Instead, it wants to improve market oversight, support investigations, and strengthen compliance across licensed crypto businesses. Kenya Moves Toward Real-Time Blockchain Monitoring According to tender documents released by the CMA, the regulator is seeking a Virtual Assets…

The biggest barrier to crypto payment adoption has never been the technology. It has been the financial commitment businesses must make before knowing whether their customers will actually pay with crypto. ForgeLayer is addressing that directly. The non-custodial crypto payment infrastructure provider has introduced a pay-as-you-go pricing model, allowing businesses to start accepting cryptocurrency payments immediately and pay only when transactions come in. Instead of a fixed monthly subscription, businesses on the new plan are charged 0.3% per transaction, with no upfront cost required. What ForgeLayer Actually Does ForgeLayer builds the infrastructure that allows businesses to integrate crypto payment capabilities…

Nigeria already has an informal digital dollar economy. The question now is whether the rules will catch up with it. That is the central argument Monica.Cash is making publicly. The Lagos-based crypto-to-naira platform has published a financial analysis identifying the rapid emergence of informal digital dollar activity across Nigeria and calling on regulators and financial institutions to respond with frameworks that encourage innovation while protecting consumers. The analysis, backed by Monica.Cash’s own platform data across its 500,000-plus users, points to a market that has moved well beyond cryptocurrency adoption. Millions of Nigerians are now using dollar-backed digital assets (primarily USDT…