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MoMo PSB Partners with Thunes to Boost Instant Cross-Border Remittances For Nigerians

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB), the fintech arm of MTN Nigeria, has entered into a strategic partnership with Thunes, a global B2B cross-border payments platform, to boost instant cross-border remittances for Nigerians.

With this collaboration, millions of Nigerians can now receive international funds instantly and securely from key markets, including the USA, UK, Canada, France, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and South Africa.

By bringing real-time cross-border payments to MoMo’s ecosystem, users can use their incoming funds straight away to pay bills, buy airtime, support family and friends, or shop online.

Speaking on the collaboration, Chief Executive Officer at MoMo PSB, Phrase Lubega said,

“Joining the Thunes Direct Global Network allows us to deliver on our commitment to financial inclusion by bringing global remittances directly to our users’ fingertips. Millions of Nigerians can now receive funds from friends, family, and professional networks abroad instantly and securely. Thanks to Thunes’ agile and robust cross-border payment Networks, MoMo PSB can provide a cost-effective, transparent, and reliable way for users to access global financial flows, helping them participate more fully in the digital economy and strengthening financial inclusion across the country”.

Also commenting, Chief Network Officer at Thunes Aik Boon Tan said,

“This alliance makes it possible for Nigerians to receive money from abroad instantly, securely, and conveniently. It’s about allowing more people to access the global economy by giving them the power to manage their finances without friction. For our members, by enabling them to send payments into Nigeria, we are opening up access to a vast and growing market with greater ease through seamless cross-border payments”.

In today’s increasingly connected world, cross-border payments remain a major challenge. Slow transfers, high fees, and complicated banking routes continue to affect millions of people especially those who rely on remittances to support families back home.

Thunes, a global fintech and payments infrastructure provider enables fast, seamless, and secure cross-border payments. Instead of serving individual consumers directly, the fintech powers the backend technology that allows banks, digital wallets, money-transfer operators, and fintech companies to move money across borders efficiently.

Through a single API, businesses can connect to Thunes and instantly enable international payments for their customers without building their own global infrastructure.

Thunes operates what it calls a Direct Global Network, a vast ecosystem of interconnected financial institutions, mobile money operators, banks, payment processors, and digital wallets worldwide. This global network currently spans; 130+ countries, 80+ currencies, Billions of connected mobile wallets and bank accounts, and Multiple payment methods including wallets, bank transfers, cash pickups, and more.

With MoMo PSB’s partnership with Thunes, it will bring about a major transformation in how Nigerians receive international payments. This partnership comes at a time when Nigeria is experiencing rising remittance inflows. According to the World Bank, the country received $20.9 billion in remittances in 2024, marking a 9% increase.

By leveraging Thunes’ direct global payment network, the need for multiple intermediaries is reduced, resulting in cheaper cross-border transfers. Notably, this is a significant win for migrant workers and anyone sending money to Nigeria.

Beyond individual users, this collaboration signals Nigeria’s integration into the global fintech ecosystem, encouraging faster adoption of innovative payment solutions and enhancing the country’s digital payment infrastructure.

Binance Launches Tokenized Equities in Its App

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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0

Binance quietly rolled out a new feature allowing users to trade tokenized versions of traditional stocks directly within the Binance app.

This move bridges cryptocurrency trading with conventional equity markets by enabling on-chain access to tokenized stocks, such as major U.S. blue-chip companies.

The feature is accessible via a dedicated “Stocks” section in the “Markets” tab of the app, where users can invest in fractional shares backed by real-world assets.

Tokenized stocks are blockchain-based representations of actual equities, allowing for 24/7 trading, fractional ownership as little as 1% of a share, and seamless integration with crypto wallets. Trades settle on-chain with self-custody, reducing intermediaries and costs compared to traditional brokers.

Binance Wallet’s “On-Chain Stocks” program offers 0% trading fees, making it attractive for crypto-native users dipping into equities. Currently focused on U.S. equities, with tokenized versions of high-profile stocks like Tesla (TSLA) highlighted in early implementations. More assets are expected to follow.

This builds on Binance’s prior experiments with stock tokens from 2021 and recent partnerships, such as integrating BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund (BUIDL) as collateral for institutional trading earlier in November 2025.

This integration positions the Binance Wallet as a unified hub for both crypto and traditional finance, potentially accelerating real-world asset (RWA) adoption in DeFi. It targets users in regions with limited brokerage access, offering low-friction entry to global markets while maintaining blockchain’s transparency and liquidity benefits.

However, regulatory scrutiny remains a factor, especially for non-U.S. users seeking tokenized equity exposure. Tokenized stocks also called stock tokens, synthetic stocks, or equity tokens are blockchain-based digital assets that represent ownership or economic exposure to traditional shares of a company.

Each token is designed to track the price and performance of the underlying real-world stock 1:1 or a fixed ratio, but it lives entirely on a blockchain.

The token price is kept in sync via arbitrage and oracle feeds via Chainlink, Pyth, etc. Binance’s 2021 Tesla token CM-Equity held the actual TSLA shares in a German depot. Tokens are minted 1:1 and are legally considered “depositary receipts” or “blocked securities tokens.”

Users own beneficial interest in the underlying stock, but without voting rights. Projects like Ondo Finance, Backed.fi, or Securitize tokenize shares via SPVs (special-purpose vehicles) in jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein, or the British Virgin Islands.

Tokens are ERC-20 or ERC-1400 security token standard and can be used as collateral in DeFi. 24/7 trading, no market close. Fractional ownership ? democratizes access to expensive stocks. Global access especially useful in countries with capital controls or no local brokers.

Many countries treat tokenized stocks as securities; platforms often geo-block U.S. or EU retail users unless fully licensed. Almost all tokenized versions strip shareholder voting. Dividends are usually converted to USDT/USDC and distributed weekly or monthly.

If the price feed is manipulated, the token can temporarily deviate from the real stock price. Some platforms forcibly close positions if collateralization falls too low. Tax authorities in many countries have not issued clear guidance yet.

When Tesla pays a dividend, you receive USDT proportional to your holdings. In short: Tokenized stocks are the crypto industry’s way of bringing Wall Street assets on-chain with all the speed, accessibility, and programmability of blockchain, but with the trade-offs of counterparty trust and reduced shareholder rights.

Coinbase Ventures’ 2026 Investment Outlook Focuses on RWA, DeFi, AI, and Robotics

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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0

Coinbase Ventures—the investment arm of Coinbase—published a forward-looking blog post outlining nine high-potential ideas across four core themes expected to drive crypto innovation and adoption in 2026.

Despite short-term market volatility, the firm emphasized 2025’s foundational progress, including surging on-chain liquidity, maturing DeFi infrastructure, and regulatory tailwinds. These themes signal a shift toward more sophisticated, interoperable systems that blend traditional finance with blockchain, while extending crypto’s reach into AI and physical-world applications.

The four pillars—Real-World Assets (RWA), Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Robotics—are interconnected, with a focus on “perpification” (perpetual futures contracts) to unlock new markets, privacy enhancements for institutional trust, and AI agents as on-chain builders.

Coinbase Ventures is actively scouting founders in these areas and invites outreach via X DMs. The “Perpification of Everything” RWAs involve tokenizing off-chain assets like real estate, commodities, or economic data on blockchain for fractional ownership and liquidity.

Coinbase Ventures predicts 2026 will see explosive growth in RWA perpetuals—synthetic derivatives providing exposure to these assets without needing to custody the underlying item. This could create on-chain markets for private company valuations, inflation expectations, credit spreads, or even energy prices.

Synthetic exposure to macro indicators like betting on commodity prices or GDP data without physical delivery. Integration with high-speed chains like Solana for low-latency trading. Potential to capture a slice of the $1.3T U.S. revolving credit market through tokenized debt.

RWA on-chain value has ballooned from $13.8B to $36B in 2025 alone. Perpetuals could “perpify” illiquid assets, drawing in institutional traders seeking yield and hedges. Expect specialized exchanges for RWAs to emerge, reducing fragmentation.

DeFi has matured, with perpetual DEX volumes hitting $1.4T monthly up 300% YoY. Coinbase Ventures is bullish on innovations that boost capital efficiency, privacy, and accessibility, evolving DeFi from basic swaps to a full-fledged alternative to TradFi banking.

Integrate perps with lending protocols—earn yield on collateral while holding leveraged positions. Hedge, leverage, and yield-farm in one flow; targets sophisticated traders entering crypto.

Unsecured On-Chain Credit

Leverage on-chain reputation (e.g., wallet history) + off-chain data for loans without collateral. Disrupts $1.3T credit market; enables “aura-based” lending for underbanked users. Tools like zero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption, and private order books for confidential trades/borrows.

Builds institutional trust; rising demand for verifiable-yet-private payments. Prop-AMMs protection against toxic flow on Solana and unified terminals for prediction markets. Consolidates liquidity from fragmented platforms like Polymarket; pro tools for event-based betting.

These upgrades address DeFi’s pain points—fragmented liquidity and transparency risks—paving the way for mass adoption. Coinbase recently led rounds in DeFi compliance (Oxbow) and prediction markets (Kalshi), signaling real capital flow.

AI’s intersection with crypto isn’t hype—it’s infrastructure. Coinbase Ventures sees AI agents automating smart contract creation, auditing, and deployment, democratizing Web3 for non-technical founders.

This theme ties into DeFi via AI-optimized trading strategies and risk management.Key Ideas: AI-driven code generation and security monitoring for rapid dApp launches. Agentic wallets for autonomous bots handling trades or payments. Reputation layers to verify AI agents’ credibility in economic interactions.

With AI models going multi-modal and agentic commerce exploding via ERC-4029/8004 standards, crypto could become the “coordination layer” for AI economies. This aligns with broader 2026 trends like AI yield optimizers and subnet innovations on platforms like Bittensor (TAO).

Robotics faces a data bottleneck—fine-grained interaction datasets for tasks like handling deformable objects are scarce and expensive. Coinbase Ventures envisions crypto-powered Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) to incentivize global data collection for training humanoid robots.

Tokenized incentives for robotics fleets to share real-world interaction data. “Proof of humanity” protocols to distinguish humans from AI in online/offline verification. On-chain rails for AI-robot payments, identity, and operations.

Humanoid robots from Tesla or Figure are ramping production, but data scarcity limits progress. DePIN could scale this exponentially, with robotics’ total market cap still under $400M—vastly undervalued. Ties into AI training needs, potentially unlocking quadrillions in tokenized economic value.

These themes could accelerate crypto’s “great convergence” with TradFi, AI, and robotics. Expect Solana and Base to lead in perps/DePIN, while Ethereum ecosystems handle privacy/AI. On-chain RWA growth might hit new highs, with stablecoins as the liquidity backbone.

High volatility persists, but regulatory clarity and AI compute demand could fuel a boom. Builders: Focus on interoperability and user-owned data. X discussions highlight excitement around Base’s role in RWA/AI, with predictions of “liquidity coming home” and robotics as the next frontier.

This outlook isn’t investment advice, but it spotlights where smart money is flowing. If you’re building in these spaces, Coinbase Ventures is listening—2026 could redefine economic freedom on-chain.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency Is Considering Investing on Crypto Exchanges

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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0

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) and its evolving stance on cryptocurrency exchanges. It’s advancing a series of reforms to integrate crypto more deeply into Japan’s financial system.

This includes enabling banks and financial institutions to acquire, hold, or operate crypto exchanges, alongside stricter security mandates for existing platforms. These moves aim to boost investor protection, reduce taxes, and treat crypto like traditional assets—potentially accelerating mainstream adoption.

The FSA is reviewing 2020 guidelines that currently prohibit banks from holding volatile assets like cryptocurrencies. If approved, banks could acquire Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptos as investments, similar to stocks or bonds.

Additionally, banking groups could register as “cryptocurrency exchange operators” to directly provide trading and custody services. This will be discussed at the Financial Services Council’s working group meeting, with potential capital and risk-management rules introduced soon after.

The shift aligns crypto regulation from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) for stronger oversight. Japan’s crypto user base has surged to over 12 million accounts up 3.5x since 2020, driven by global trends and domestic growth 120% YoY in on-chain value received through June 2025.

Allowing credible banks to enter could make crypto more accessible and secure for retail investors. This has been hailed as a “monetary structure shift,” with institutions like Nomura, SBI, and Mitsubishi UFJ exploring crypto funds and stablecoins.

Just yesterday (November 24, 2025), the FSA announced plans to require all registered crypto exchanges to maintain “liability reserve funds.” These would cover user losses from hacks, fraud, or operational failures—mirroring protections for traditional securities brokerages.

Exchanges could fund reserves via revenue shares or insurance policies. The goal is rapid compensation, avoiding scenarios like the 2018 Coincheck hack which cost $530M or a 2024 third-party breach affecting major platforms.

This ties into “securities-level standards” for platforms, including enhanced risk controls and JVCEA (Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association) retraining for auditors. With rising consultations on crypto scams, this bolsters trust in Japan’s 28+ licensed exchanges like BITPOINT, Coincheck.

The FSA proposes treating 105 major cryptos including BTC and ETH as “financial products” under FIEA. This would impose insider trading rules, require detailed disclosures (e.g., issuer info, volatility profiles), and enable products like investment trusts and ETFs.

Crypto gains would face a flat 20% tax rate down from the current 55% miscellaneous income bracket, making Japan more competitive globally. The package heads to parliament in 2026, potentially approving yen-backed stablecoins by then from Mitsubishi UFJ or Monex Group.

Banks barred from holding crypto. Allowed to acquire/hold BTC; operate exchanges. Wider access via trusted institutions; volatility risks to banks. Self-regulated via JVCEA; past hacks. Faster user compensation; higher compliance costs for exchanges. Boosts retail participation; revenue loss for govt ~¥100B est.

Institutional inflows; over-regulation fears. These reforms position Japan as a crypto leader, blending innovation with caution—especially after high-profile breaches. Six major asset managers (e.g., Nomura, Sumitomo Mitsui) are already prepping BTC/ETH funds, signaling institutional buy-in.

On X, reactions are bullish: users call it a “neon-lit revolution” for adoption, with posts highlighting the tax slash as “extremely bullish.”

Dangote Refinery Partners with Honeywell to Double Capacity in Push Toward Becoming the World’s Largest Petroleum Plant

By
Samuel Nwite
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0

Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery has taken another major step in its expansion journey after securing a wide-ranging agreement with Honeywell to support its plan to boost output to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028, Reuters has reported.

The move is being read across the energy industry as the strongest indication yet that the Lagos-based complex is pushing ahead with its ambition to become the world’s largest petroleum refinery.

The collaboration gives Dangote access to Honeywell’s catalysts, process technology, and specialized equipment that will allow the refinery to handle a broader slate of crude grades. That flexibility is crucial for the planned second single-train unit, which will sit alongside the refinery’s existing 650,000-barrel-per-day line—the largest single-train refining unit ever built.

The partnership also covers petrochemicals, with the refinery set to expand its polypropylene output to 2.4 million metric tons per year. This will be achieved through Honeywell’s Oleflex technology, a globally used process for producing on-purpose propylene—an industrial material that powers everything from plastic containers to automotive components.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source familiar with the arrangement said the deal could exceed $250 million, noting that costs for such technical contracts typically rise with the scale and sophistication of the equipment involved.

Dangote’s decision to expand the refinery comes amid ongoing efforts to end Nigeria’s decades-long reliance on imported fuel. Despite being Africa’s top crude producer, the country has operated with non-functional state refineries, forcing it to depend almost entirely on foreign-refined fuel. This has led to chronic shortages, multi-billion-dollar subsidy troubles, and relentless pressure on foreign exchange reserves.

The $20 billion Dangote complex in Lekki was designed to break that cycle by meeting domestic demand and exporting the surplus. The refinery’s management has said the plant will eventually process nearly all of Nigeria’s current production volume once the expansion lifts capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day. That output would not only exceed the country’s local consumption needs but also position Nigeria as a major regional fuel supplier.

The latest deal comes at a sensitive moment for Honeywell, which is restructuring its business and preparing to carve out its aerospace unit. The company is seeking to stabilize earnings across its portfolio as it reshapes itself, and its work with Dangote adds a major long-term revenue stream at a time of internal repositioning.

The refinery’s path to full operations has included its own challenges, including regulatory delays and technical adjustments after construction. But the new Honeywell partnership signals that Dangote is accelerating rather than slowing, and is leaning on some of the world’s most established engineering and process-technology providers as it pushes toward its goal of becoming the most extensive refining operation on the planet.

This move, if successful, is expected to clear all doubt about the refinery’s capacity to meet domestic demand amid its push to expand to new markets. Although the chairman of the oil plant, Aliko Dangote, has repeatedly said that the refinery, at its current capacity, will meet domestic demand, critics have expressed doubt.

However, the refinery expansion is expected to open a fresh source of petrochemical exports—while giving Honeywell a strong foothold in one of Nigeria’s oil market.

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