#9: Bitcoin Senator, Visa crypto & Nigeria ban

Each week, I cover the “so what"?” of 5 key crypto developments in about 5 minutes. Let’s go.

1. Bitcoin Senator joins Banking Committee

   • Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is the only member of Congress who has disclosed owning cryptocurrency; she first bought bitcoin in 2013 based on a recommendation from her son-in-law

     So what?

   • The Senate Banking Committee host hearings on the development of the Digital Dollar and stablecoins like the Facebook-backed Diem project

   • Senator Lummis could bring fresh perspectives as Wyoming has led the US in developing crypto policy and regulation

2. Visa launches crypto infrastructure for banks

   • Visa is piloting APIs that enable banks to offer digital currency services within their consumer experiences

   • Visa’s partner, Anchorage, a federally chartered digital asset bank, will provide hold the digital currency

     So what?

   • Most banks do not have the technical capacity or risk profile to build custodial services; this partnership plays to the strengths of the participants

3. Protego gets national bank charter

   • Protego became the second digital asset firm to obtain a national bank charter from the OCC

   • The trust bank will offer a trading platform for clients, a service for issuing new digital assets and a peer-to-peer lending platform

     So what?

   • A growing number of digital asset firms have gained licenses in Wyoming or the OCC both licenses enable banks to operate across the country

   • Protego has already secured commitments for $1.5B assets under custody

   • Seattle-based Protego could partner with traditional banks and institutional investors to offer consumers new solutions

4. Nigeria bans crypto

   • This week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banned banks from supporting crypto payments and transfers to digital currency exchanges

     So what?

   • In October 2020, the CBN ordered banks to shut down accounts associated with organizers of nationwide protests against police brutality, rape and extortion. Nigerians turned to bitcoin to fund the protests.

   • A few years ago, Pakistan banned cryptocurrencies. Since then local bitcoin mining has increased and P2P activity increased

   • Nigeria is already one of the largest markets for P2P cryptocurrency exchange, with over $560M traded between 2015 and 2020; the ban will likely drive activity

   • The ban is bewildering as the CBN had previously banned transfers in and out of the country via traditional means like Western Union, MoneyGram, TransferWise etc; crypto-related transfers via startups like SendCashAfrica had been growing, these are no longer permitted.

5. Billionaires pushing crypto

   • Elon Musk, the world’s second richest man, and Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the third richest man in Mexico both changed their Twitter bios to include #Bitcoin

     So what?

   • Ricardo Salinas Pliego first purchased bitcoin in 2013 for $200, calling it “the best investment I ever made”

   • The disclosures and change in Twitter bios signal growing adoption by the ultra high net worth individuals

   • This week, MicroStrategy held it’s Bitcoin for Corporations conference where it shared it’s playbook for bringing for adding digital currency to its treasury; the event was targeted at executives of public corporations and could stir further conversations