DD
MM
YYYY

CATEGORIES

PAGES

DD
MM
YYYY

spot_img

CATEGORIES

PAGES

Home Blog Page 3772

Access Bank Holdings Obtains CBN License to Establish A Consumer Lending Subsidiary

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
-
0

Nigerian multinational commercial bank, Access Bank Holdings plc has received the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) approval-in-principle, to establish a consumer lending subsidiary to be known as Oxygen X Finance Company Limited.

The bank announced that the proposed subsidiary will make a positive impact on the financial landscape by providing innovative and seamless digital lending solutions to address distinct challenges faced by businesses and individuals.

The proposed subsidiary will commence operation upon obtaining the final operating license from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Access Bank Holdings’ launch of a lending subsidiary is the second diversification the company is making after a week ago, it announced the acquisition of Lagos-based Megatech Insurance Brokers.

Both of these are part of the corporation’s plan to branch out from core banking into new areas within the financial services sector in a bid to diversify and grow more revenue.

With the launch of Oxygen X, Access Bank seeks to target micro-SMEs and retail customers including lower and middle-income salary earners as well as self-employed individuals as its clientele.

According to its 5-year strategy document, the lending subsidiary product offerings encompass traditional consumer and SME lending (asset and device, financing, personal loans, working capital financing), emerging consumer lending (Buy Now Pay Later, savings & investment products, and value-added services.

While other lending companies in the financial services space have focused on fintech, Access Bank holdings has become the first to make a play for standalone digital lending with the launch of Oxygen X.

The bank’s lending subsidiary (Oxygen X) will look to compete with digital lenders like Opay and Carbon in the growing consumer lending industry in Nigeria.

The consumer lending industry in Nigeria, is reported to be growing at a significant rate. It is worth noting that in the first quarter of 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed that Consumer credit in Nigeria rose by 1.3 percent to N2.35 trillion, from N2.32 trillion in the previous quarter.

Personal loans constituted a substantial portion, totaling N1.75 trillion or 74.5 percent, while retail loans accounted for the remaining 25.5 percent at N598.3 billion.

Also, other Depository Corporations (ODCs) contributed about 7.8% of consumer credit in Q3 2023. Based on the sectoral distinction, these ODCs constitute mostly of fintech lending startups, microfinance banks, and players in the alternative lending market, among others.

Financial experts have stated that the surge in consumer credit in Nigeria, is indicative of the evolving financial landscape in the country, with fintech playing a pivotal role in expanding access to credit and formal financial services.

8 Bites in a bleak January with some hope for a strong Cryptofuture

By
John Mc Keown
-
0

Coindesk 20 endorsed by Perpetual Futures

I’ve long argued that those declaring FIAT as worthless are contradicting themselves – when saying the value of a cryptocurrency is rising, measured against a FIAT – for example the US Dollar.

Other instruments rising or falling against the $USD often says more about what is happening to the $USD and the US Economy, than it is about whatever the other instrument is.

You could probably say the same about instrument comparisons to any of the other IMF reserve currencies – Euro, Yuan (Renminbi), Pound and Yen.

Worthless means worth 0. So it doesn’t matter if an instrument (crypto or not) did 2x , 10x or whatever.

Even 1000x zero is still zero. That’s a mathematics fundamental.

The Coindesk 20 has been around for a while.

What’s new, is that ‘Perpetual Futures’ based on the ‘Bullish’ CEX index, which owns CoinDesk, could help the CoinDesk 20 become a widely followed benchmark akin to the 128-year-old Dow Jones Industrial Average.

This creates the seeds for a mechanism for wider adoption of acknowledging the cryptofinance space should feature movers and shakers, which provide a better way of analysing performance than comparative worth with a FIAT.

Bullish, run by former NYSE President Tom Farley, offers futures contracts based on the CoinDesk 20

Take that, ETF.

Coindesk , no stranger to advertorials paid for by actors on EVM compatible networks, may not be the most transparent and reliable entity to impartially view the cryptocurrency spectrum as a whole.

However, they are a first mover in this area, and may become more impartial if the service moves in the direction of becoming core income.

Uses Content from Coindesk.

New launch by Parallel

Parallel, an NFT sci-fi card game, is preparing to launch tournaments and Planetfall, with plans to conduct public testing on Steam and Epic platforms.

The Parallel game is composed of digital collectible cards that can be used to build a deck of cards and played in an online/mobile game currently in development. Players will need to collect a minimum set of cards to compose a playable deck that is associated with one of the five Parallels — Earthen, Marcolian, Augencore, Kathari, and Shroud. Players can create more than one deck of cards, and play as any of the Parallels for each match.

The co-founder of Parallel, Kalos, also revealed that the company will be entering into significant collaborations with key markets. In October 2021, Parallel secured $50 million in funding, led by Paradigm.

Uses content from Foresight.

Gamestop shutting down their NFT marketplace

GameStop is shutting down its NFT marketplace about a year and a half after its launch.

The marketplace’s closure will happen Feb. 2, 2024.

It was previously a Jim Cramer pick, who described GameStop as ‘With Profits’

Despite the shutdown, previously minted tokens on blockchains remain accessible and can be traded on other platforms.

It is pointed out, they are not ‘genuine’ NFTs, as the bulk data relating to a GameStop mint remains off-chain on Immutable X or Loopring, as compared to genuine NFTs, which would be minted according to ERC 721, wholly and directly to the Eth core.

The departure from the crypto-tokenization space was not explained.

GameStop is well known for its retail stores, but had been expanding into the virtual domain amid struggles in the physical gaming sector.

Another nail in the coffin for the misuse of EVM Compatible technology for tradeable assets, to which this specific part of the wider Blockchain Ecosystem is unsuited.

Uses content from investing.com

SOL based token hit by ‘0x’ hacker

SolDragon’s token DRAGON has experienced a nearly 100% drop. The attacker, identified as 0x4c79, has exchanged a significant amount of DRAGON tokens for 1006.36 BNB, valued at approximately $304,600

SolDragon is a token minted off the Solana Network.

The Soldragon website doesn’t say a lot about any products in its ecosystem, or what the token is intended to support. The single page site merely makes a vague reference to 2024 being Chinese ‘Year of the Dragon’ (Starts February 10).

The rest of the site just says how to buy Soldragon –

  1. Use Phantom or other wallets that support you to own SOL
  2. Buy for yourselves some SOL via some reputable CEXs and send them to your wallet
  3. Choose the Buy link on our Social or do it manually by pasting the contract on Raydium to buy

It’s got a ‘Tokenomics’ section that doesn’t explain much beyond the total supply being 100m tokens. The footer section does carry links to its X and Telegram accounts which may have more information than the website.

Uses content from Foresight

Top 8 Bitcoin Lightning Wallets 2024

Bitcoin Lightning wallets support a process of the majority of transactions to take place off-chain, with the transactions broadcasted to the Bitcoin mainnet only after the user closes a payment channel.

They are software based, i.e. ‘hot’ wallets and carry greater risk than a cold wallet like my Ledger Nano X.

Some folk are ok with hot solutions, but they are less than ideal for ‘hodling’ virtual assets.

The list: Wallet of Satoshi – The best Lightning Bitcoin wallet overall

Breez – A Lightning node in your pocket

Phoenix – A non-custodial Bitcoin Lightning wallet

Strike – A popular Bitcoin payment app partnered with Shopify

Zap – A Lightning wallet software for desktop and mobile devices

Muun – A Lightning wallet combining the benefits of on- and off-chain transactions

Blue Wallet – A powerful Bitcoin wallet with Lightning Network support

ZEUS Wallet – A Bitcoin Lightning wallet that caters to both power users and the average user

If like me, you try to keep Web3 related engagements away from the Android, or iOS operating platforms, then Zap is the best pick.

Uses content from coincodex.com

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) halts MTN Nigerias’ existing permission to disconnect Globacom (Glo) subscribers.

MTN Nigeria and Globacom Limited (Glo) are two of the leading MNOs (Mobile Network Operators) in Nigeria. It seems that Glo had been leasing services from MTN and Glo customers are running on MTN networks. The NCC, with strong regulatory and administrative powers, had given MTN permission to disconnect Glo from its services due to outstanding debts.

MTN Nigeria and Globacom Limited (Glo) have since come to an accommodation privately, so the NCC has retracted the disconnection order, with effect from today (January 18). Adhering to NCC instructions is a condition of spectrum licences, without which MNOs cannot legally operate in Nigeria.   – Uses content from Techeconomy NG

COTI Foundation takes Privacy Seriously

Blockchain development company COTI Foundation has announced a $25 million grant through its ecosystem fund to promote the development of privacy-focused projects.

The first recipient of this funding is Soda Labs, a participant in the encrypted multi-party computation (MPC) field. Soda Labs will lead research efforts to expand garbled circuit protocols and other multi-party computation (MPC) protocols, ensuring secure and scalable privacy networks for COTI users.

-Uses content from Binance News

Africa Stablecoin Consortium Delays cNGN Launch

The Africa Stablecoin Consortium has announced the delay of the launch of its anticipated cNGN stablecoin, intended to happen on 17 February.

The consortium, consisting of Pan-African banks, fintech firms, and blockchain entities, blamed the delay on slow progress of regulatory clearance.

cNGN is intended to operate like USDT and USDC across multiple public blockchains, and similarly, will be backed by a Naira reserve.

Management of cNGN will remain with the consortium unlike the eNaira (CBDC) which is managed by CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria).

The eNaira made history in October 2021 as only the second CBDC in the world (after China).

The eNaira is built on top of the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain protocol, which is an open-source project started by the Linux foundation. The project has implemented this as a private blockchain network. eNaira nodes are only run by CBN and a limited number of third parties it approved. It is capable of 3,000 TPS.

The eNaira is seen as an expensive failure, with negligible adoption rates.

– Uses content from Techdigest .ng and Cornell University.

9ja Cosmos is here…

Get your .9jacom and .9javerse Web 3 domains  for $2 at:

.9jacom Domains

.9javerse Domains

Visit 9ja Cosmos LinkedIn Page

Visit 9ja Cosmos Website

Preview our Sino Amazon/Sinosignia releases

More Tech Layoffs: YouTube Announces Plan to Eliminate 100 Jobs Amid Wider Google Layoffs

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
-
0
A picture shows a You Tube logo on December 4, 2012 during LeWeb Paris 2012 in Saint-Denis near Paris. Le Web is Europe's largest tech conference, bringing together the entrepreneurs, leaders and influencers who shape the future of the internet. AFP PHOTO ERIC PIERMONT (Photo credit should read ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images)

American online video-sharing and social media platform YouTube has announced a plan to eliminate 100 jobs amid wider layoffs at its parent company Google.

The layoffs are reported to be part of efforts by the video platform’s parent company, Google, to trim costs as it embraces Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Announcing the layoff, YouTube’s chief business officer, Mary Ellen Coe wrote in a note to employees,

“We have made the decision to eliminate some roles and say goodbye to some of our teammates. Anyone in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region who is or may be impacted will be notified by the end of today”.

The layoff affects staffers on YouTube’s creator management teams, which will now have leadership dedicated to each country, as opposed to regions.

Several reports claim that the recent layoffs at YouTube are happening after the platform has struggled to fully recover from an advertising slowdown in the past year, which has seen it contend with strong rival TikTok.

The platform responded by launching TikTok-style formats such as YouTube shorts, a service offering vertical video, that enables users to scroll infinitely.  Despite YouTube claiming success, reporting 5tn cumulative views on Shorts in January 2022, the service however failed to scale TikTok’s heights.

In its third-quarter earnings in October 2023, YouTube revenues fell 2 percent to $7.1bn, versus analysts’ expectations for an increase of 4.4 percent. It was the first decline in YouTube ad sales since the company started reporting its performance separately in 2020.

This massive decline has forced YouTube’s parent company Google, to look for more ways to cut costs and generate more revenue.

Last Thursday, the company eliminated more than a thousand jobs from its core engineering division; its voice-operated product, Google Assistant; and some projects involving augmented reality, the technology that combines the real world with a digital overlay.

A spokesperson at the company said in a statement

“As we’ve said, we are responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead. To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities. Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally.”

In a note to employees on Wednesday, Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai disclosed that employees should expect to see more cuts for the rest of the year, but not as big as what the company experienced last year.

Googlers should expect more job cuts, warned CEO Sundar Pichai. In an internal memo shared with The Verge, Pichai said that the company will be “investing in our big priorities this year” and has to “make tough choices” to support them. The news comes just days after Google axed more than 1,000 roles across numerous divisions, including advertising sales and devices-and-services. Pichai noted that the next cuts would not be as large as last year’s, when Google laid off about 12,000 people. Amazon, Apple, Citigroup and other major companies have also announced cuts in recent weeks. Many of the job cuts and hiring freezes are, perhaps unsurprisingly, tied to companies’ growing focus on AI — not just at Google, but also at Duolingo and Salesforce.

How to Get a Loan When You Need It Most

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
-
0

If you have ever tried to get a loan from a bank, you may have encountered a frustrating paradox: the bank will only lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it. This is because banks are risk-averse and want to make sure that you have enough income and assets to repay the loan.

But what if you are in a situation where you urgently need some extra cash, such as an unexpected medical bill, a car repair, or a home improvement project? How can you convince the bank to lend you money when you need it most?

There are some strategies that can help you increase your chances of getting approved for a loan, even if you don’t have a stellar credit score or a lot of collateral. Here are some tips to follow:

Shop around for the best deal. Different banks and lenders may have different criteria and interest rates for their loans. You should compare the terms and conditions of various options and look for the one that suits your needs and budget. Y

You can use online tools and calculators to compare the monthly payments, fees, and total cost of different loans. Improve your credit score. Your credit score is one of the main factors that lenders use to evaluate your creditworthiness. A higher credit score means that you have a good history of paying your bills on time and managing your debt responsibly. A lower credit score means that you have had some financial difficulties or mistakes in the past, such as late payments, defaults, or bankruptcy.

To improve your credit score, you should pay your bills on time, keep your credit card balances low, avoid applying for too many new credit accounts, and check your credit report for errors and disputes. Provide collateral or a cosigner. If you don’t have enough income or assets to qualify for a loan, you may be able to offer some collateral or a cosigner to secure the loan.

Collateral is something of value that you pledge to the lender as a guarantee that you will repay the loan. For example, you can use your car, your home, or your savings account as collateral. A cosigner is someone who agrees to repay the loan on your behalf if you fail to do so. For example, you can ask a family member or a friend with good credit to cosign your loan.

However, both collateral and cosigning involve some risks. If you default on the loan, you may lose your collateral or damage your relationship with your cosigner. Consider alternative sources of funding. If you can’t get a loan from a bank, you may be able to find other ways to raise some money.

For example, you can sell some of your unwanted items online or at a garage sale, ask your employer for an advance on your paycheck, borrow money from your family or friends, or use a credit card or a payday loan. However, these options may also have some drawbacks, such as high interest rates, fees, or emotional stress.

Getting a loan from a bank may seem like an impossible task if you can’t prove that you don’t need it. However, by following these tips, you may be able to improve your chances of getting approved for a loan when you need it most. A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.”

The curious case of Crypto’s only normal Valuation

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
-
0

Cryptocurrencies are notorious for their extreme volatility, speculative nature and lack of intrinsic value. Many investors and analysts struggle to assign a fair price to these digital assets, which often trade at multiples of their fundamentals or historical averages. However, there is one cryptocurrency that stands out as an exception to this rule: stablecoins.

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that are designed to maintain a stable value relative to a fiat currency, such as the US dollar, or a basket of assets, such as gold or other cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins aim to combine the benefits of cryptocurrencies, such as fast transactions, low fees and global accessibility, with the stability and reliability of fiat currencies, which are backed by governments and central banks.

Stablecoins are not a new phenomenon in the crypto space. The first stablecoin, Tether (USDT), was launched in 2014 and has since become the most widely used and traded cryptocurrency in the world, with a market capitalization of over $70 billion as of January 2024. Other popular stablecoins include USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), Dai (DAI) and TerraUSD (UST).

Unlike most cryptocurrencies, which have no clear method of valuation, stablecoins can be easily valued based on their underlying assets or pegs. For example, USDT is supposed to be backed by an equivalent number of US dollars in reserve, which means that one USDT should always be worth one USD.

Similarly, DAI is backed by a pool of collateralized cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum (ETH) or Bitcoin (BTC), which are locked in smart contracts and can be liquidated if the value of DAI falls below its peg.

Therefore, stablecoins are the only type of cryptocurrency that can be considered to have a normal valuation, based on supply and demand, arbitrage opportunities and market efficiency. If the price of a stablecoin deviates from its peg, either above or below, traders can exploit this difference and bring the price back to equilibrium.

For example, if USDT is trading at $1.01 on an exchange, traders can buy USDT for $1 on another exchange or from Tether directly, and sell it for $1.01 on the first exchange, earning a risk-free profit of 1%. This process will increase the supply of USDT on the first exchange and decrease the demand, until the price converges to $1.

Of course, this assumes that the stablecoin is fully backed by its underlying assets or pegs, and that there is sufficient liquidity and transparency in the market. In reality, these assumptions may not always hold true. For instance, Tether has been accused of not having enough reserves to back its USDT supply, and of manipulating the price of BTC through its issuance. Moreover, some stablecoins may face regulatory challenges or technical issues that could compromise their stability or security.

Nevertheless, stablecoins remain the most rational and predictable type of cryptocurrency in terms of valuation. They offer a unique opportunity for investors and users to access the benefits of crypto without exposing themselves to the risks and uncertainties of other digital assets. Stablecoins may also play a key role in the adoption and integration of crypto into the mainstream financial system, as they can serve as a bridge between fiat and crypto markets.

In conclusion, stablecoins are the curious case of crypto’s only normal valuation. They are the exception that proves the rule that crypto is a highly volatile and speculative asset class. However, they are also an innovation that challenges the status quo and opens new possibilities for the future of money.

Binance Records Net Inflows of $4.6 Billion as Crypto Traders Flock The Platform Following Historic Fine

Meanwhile, Binance, a global company that operates the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies, has recorded net inflows of $4.6 billion as crypto traders flock back to the platform after it was fined for money laundering violations.

In January this year, the platform has so far attracted $3.5 billion, more than for any full month since at least November 2022. Reports reveal that Binance has outpaced what some of its biggest rivals which include OKX and Bybit have amassed so far.

Recall that the crypto exchange faced a turbulent period last year, which saw the CEO Changpeng Zhao step down from his position, after pleading guilty to several charges in federal court.

Speaking on his step down, Zhao wrote via a tweet,

“Today, I stepped down as CEO of Binance. Admittedly, it was not easy to let go emotionally. But I know it is the right thing to do. I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and myself. I can’t see myself being a CEO driving a startup again.”

Following Zhao’s step down, Binance experienced a significant decline in trading volume and withdrawals. Binance’s native token BNB, and a range of smaller cryptocurrencies declined from the largest digital-asset exchange under a sweeping deal worked out with the US Justice Department. 

Also, Binance saw millions of pounds worth of crypto pulled from its platform in the last 24 hours after the exchange was fined by a US regulator.  Traders reportedly moved more than $800 million out of the exchange in the 24 hours after the crypto exchange was sued by the US securities regulator.

The withdrawals marked the largest day of outflows into stablecoins from Binance since the US regional banking turmoil earlier this year. According to data from CCData, roughly $451mn of the net flows were turned into stablecoins, a kind of token that lets buyers easily move between crypto markets.

Afterward, Richard Teng replaced Zhao as Binance CEO, which he promised to help the company navigate a web of regulatory probes and take on the challenge of retaining customer confidence in Binance.

Teng announced his plans to take Binance to a higher level of transparency, which he said the platform will implement a conventional corporate structure, including having a board of directors, office address, and open financial reports.

Within a post on social media, Teng provided reassurance to stakeholders about the exchange’s commitment to maintaining its key principles.

According to him, a strategy move toward increased regulatory compliance and openness is shown by the fact that he places a strong emphasis on preserving key values and concentrating on user safety. The implementation of this strategy is very necessary in order to regain and preserve the confidence of users in the aftermath of the legal problems and the leadership changes.

The massive inflow of funds back to Binance, reflects trust from crypto traders despite the exchange’s involvement in Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-money laundering law, among other charges, which saw the platform pay a fine of $4.3 billion, one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history.

1...3,7713,7723,773...8,566Page 3,772 of 8,566

© Tekedia. All rights reserved.

Term & Privacy

© Tekedia. All rights reserved.

Term & Privacy