The value of crypto funds stolen by hackers and cybercriminals increased by approximately 21.07% year-over-year (YoY) to $2.2 billion in 2024, says a new report by Chainalysis.

Additionally, the number of individual hacking incidents increased from 282 in 2023 to 303 in 2024.

 

“Crypto hacking remains a persistent threat, with four years in the past decade individually seeing more than a billion dollars’ worth of crypto stolen (2018, 2021, 2022, and 2023).

2024 marks the fifth year to reach

Bitcoin is maintaining its position above the $100,000 mark supported by growing risk-on sentiment driven by monetary easing from major central banks, according to Bitfinex Head of Derivatives, Jag Kooner.

The cryptocurrency, which surpassed $100,00 for the first time in history on December 5 2024, has peaked at an all-time high price of ~$107,000 since crossing the $100K milestone but has been fluctuating in the range between $95K and $103K since.

MILESTONE | #Bitcoin Surpasses the $100,000 M

Bank of Tanzania’s fintech regulatory sandbox will begin receiving applications on January 2 2025, the bank says.

 

“In line with the Bank of Tanzania (Fintech Regulatory Sandbox) Regulations, 2024 (Regulations), which require applications to be submitted on a quarterly basis, the Bank hereby announces that applications for participation in the Sandbox will open quarterly, beginning January 2025.

The first application window for 2025 will be open from 2nd to 22nd January, 2025.”

– Bank of Ta

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has announced its most recent round of Bitcoin Development Fund grants.

A total of 700,000,000 satoshis (7 BTC) currently worth $706,000 at the time of writing, is being distributed across 20 projects worldwide, including 3 in Africa.

While the HRF did not reveal the specific amounts awarded to each project, the following 20 initiatives have been selected as recipients of today’s grant round, totaling 7 BTC:

 

1.) Naiyoma

Naiyoma, the first female Bitcoin C

$PENGU, the token by Web3 project, Pudgy Penguins, was successfully listed on the Binance Exchange on December 17 2024 giving users across the world access to the rising NFT collection project.

First introduced on the Ethereum blockchain in 2021, Pudgy Penguins has gained recognition for its lively community and charming artwork, and is now on its way to becoming the latest global web3 brand.

The project has over 50 billion views on social, thanks to a modern community characterized by good vi

The Capital Markets Authority of Kenya (CMA Kenya) has admitted Yeshara Tokens Limited into the Capital Markets Authority Regulatory Sandbox to test Yeshara Tokens, an innovative blockchain-enabled real estate tokenization platform.

Yeshara Tokens is the latest blockchain product to be admitted into the regulatory sandbox for a period of 12 months. During this period, Yeshara Tokens will be required to undertake the following regulatory sandbox requirements:

Adhere to the proposed testing and

Btrust Builders, in collaboration with Chaincode Labs, is issuing a final call for applications to the 2025 Builders January Cohort. This part-time, three-month, fully remote program is designed to identify and push passionate software developers in Africa to contribute to Bitcoin open-source software (₿OSS).

Applications are now open, and developers across the continent are encouraged to apply by December 27 2024.

This program is a unique opportunity for developers of all levels, whether seas

Btrust Builders, in collaboration with Chaincode Labs, is issuing a final call for applications to the 2025 Builders January Cohort. This part-time, three-month, fully remote program is designed to identify and push passionate software developers in Africa to contribute to Bitcoin open-source software (₿OSS).

Applications are now open, and developers across the continent are encouraged to apply by December 27 2024.

This program is a unique opportunity for developers of all levels, whether seas

Verda Ventures, a global venture capital firm specializing in blockchain, has unveiled a $40 million initiative in collaboration with Opera, a web browser company, to back blockchain startups in emerging markets.

The fund aims to support companies developing financial products centered on Opera’s MiniPay wallet which was launched in Nigeria in 2023.

INTRODUCING | #Opera Launches the MiniPay Stablecoin Wallet for African Users on the #Celo Blockchain #MiniPay is sad to be a collaboration betwee

Verda Ventures, a global venture capital firm specializing in blockchain, has unveiled a $40 million initiative in collaboration with Opera, a web browser company, to back blockchain startups in emerging markets.

The fund aims to support companies developing financial products centered on Opera’s MiniPay wallet which was launched in Nigeria in 2023.

INTRODUCING | #Opera Launches the MiniPay Stablecoin Wallet for African Users on the #Celo Blockchain #MiniPay is sad to be a collaboration betwee

South African neobank, TymeBank, has raised $250 million in a Series D round which brought its valuation to $1.5 billion.

TymeBank joins Nigeria’s MoniePoint as the latest African fintech to achieve unicorn status in 2024 despite a recent drop in venture capital funding to startups on the continent, joining a list that includes the likes of Flutterwave, MNT Halan, and Wave.

A Look at #African #Startups that Have Achieved #Unicorn Status – https://t.co/zNYixQ4mGB

— Stanley’s Musings (@StanleyE

Rwanda has officially unveiled its National Fintech Strategy, designed to guide Rwanda’s fintech development from 2024 to 2029.

The plan, launched by the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, in partnership with Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR), is described as a comprehensive roadmap that aims to:

Increase financial inclusion, which is already really high at 96%

Attract investments, and

Position the country as a leading fintech hub on the continent.

Rwanda, whose Kigali Financial Center was ranked

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and users, has announced the launch of Binance Alpha, a platform within Binance Wallet (previously known as Binance Web3 Wallet) designed to spotlight early-stage projects and help users explore Alpha opportunities.

Notably, Binance Alpha serves as a platform for featuring tokens that may be considered for listings on the Binance Exchange in the future.

 

“Binance Alpha serves as a pre-listing token selection pool, designe

Bitcoin’s journey to a $100,000 price milestone spanned over 5,200 trading days, hitting a market cap briefly exceeding $2 trillion, highlighting the network’s resilience and steady evolution, says a new analysis by Glassnode.

MILESTONE | #Bitcoin Surpasses the $100,000 Mark for the First Time in History

Since the start of 2024, Bitcoin is up by over 120% and by over 50% in the last one month since the election victory of U.S. President Donald Trump.https://t.co/Zc1PC4lDbM #Bitcoin100K pic.twi

The Nigeria Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested 193 foreign nationals in a busted operation against a cybercrime and cryptocurrency fraud syndicate in the city of Lagos, Nigeria.

According to EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the suspects – comprising 148 Chinese nationals and 40 Filipinos – were arrested on December 10 2024 at the seven-story Big Leaf Building in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub.

Some of the $355,000 Funds seized in Nigerian romance and crypto invest

JuicyWay, a Nigerian cross-border payments startup that assists businesses in obtaining foreign exchange for international transactions, has secured $3 million in pre-seed funding.

The company plans to use the funds to grow its marketing and business development teams, enhance its technology, and scale operations in Nigeria, the U.S, the UK, and Canada.

The funding round was led by:

P1 Ventures

with participation from:

Ventures Platform

Future Africa

Magic Fund

Microtraction

and angel i

Safaricom’s leading mobile money platform, M-PESA, gained over 500,000 new users between October and November 2024, bringing its total user base to 34 million in Kenya alone. This represents a 1.5% increase from the 33.5 million active users reported in September 2024.

 

“We are immensely proud to reach 34 million M-PESA customers in Kenya. This accomplishment underscores our dedication to deliver frictionless, always on, and secure financial services to our customers,” said Safaricom CEO Pete

The South Africa Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has approved 248 crypto asset service provider licences out of the 420 applications received, the regulatory body has said.

So far, only nine applications have been rejected, while 106 were voluntarily withdrawn after discussions with the regulator about the suitability of their business and operating models.

One of the main reasons for rejecting CASP license applications has been the failure to meet the ‘fit and proper‘ criteria outli

Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem secured over $2 billion in investments in 2024, according to the 2024 Economic Report released by the Office of the Special Adviser to Nigeria’s President on Economic Affairs, within the Office of the Vice President.

The report identified telecommunications and ICT, particularly fintech, as one of the key sectors driving Nigeria’s economic growth in 2024, with the potential to sustain or even double this performance in 2025.

 

“Nigeria’s telecommunications and ICT

Nigerian fintech, Billboxx, has raised $1.6 million pre-seed funding round, the startup announced in a press release.

The round saw participation from renowned investors including:

Norrsken Accelerator

Kaleo Ventures

Founders Factory Africa – FFA (now 54 Collective)

P2Vest, and

Afrinovation Ventures

FUNDING | Founders Factory Rebrands to 54 Collective, Transforms to a Full-Fledged VC Firm for Early-Stage Startups

Founders Factory has an active portfolio of over 50 ventures across 10 coun