Weekly crypto roundup: Sun Exchange Funded a $1.4M Solar Installation in Zimbabwe with Bitcoin contributions

In today’s edition of Bitmama’s weekly crypto news roundup, we cover interesting developments in the cryptocurrency industry. Top picks – Sun Exchange Funded a $1.4M Solar project in Zimbabwe with Bitcoin contributions, Nigerian lawmakers proposing a law to  regulate Crypto Industry after proposal to Jail Ponzi operators, Zimbabwe entered into an agreement with Deadalus World Limited for collecting tax from crypto operators.

Let’s get started.

Sun Exchange Funded a $1.4M Solar Installation in Zimbabwe with Bitcoin contributions

South Africa’s Sun Exchange, a solar power investing community that uses bitcoin (BTC) to raise capital and to make payments to its investors, says it has completed the highest value crowdsourced project of any kind in Africa.

The Nhimbe Fresh project in Zimbabwe, a grower of berries and vegetables comprising 250 smallholder farmers, raised funds for about $1.4 million worth of solar cells, bought by more than 1,905 individuals across 98 countries, with most of them transacting in bitcoin.

Sun Exchange deployed the first bitcoin-funded solar project back in 2016, which was presented at CoinDesk’s Consensus event in New York that year. Sun Exchange has now funded more than 50 solar projects, raising over $9 million, and it’s one of the few ambitious projects from the early days to still be around and thriving.

According to Sun Exchange founder Abe Cambridge, the solar projects are mainly in schools, farms, supermarkets and retirement homes, many of them in South Africa. He said  “These are organizations which otherwise wouldn’t have the capital available to build their solar plant, nor would they really want to go and raise debt.”

Nigerian Lawmakers Urged to Consider Regulating Crypto Industry After Proposal to Jail Ponzi Operators

The leader of the Nigerian blockchain association, Senator Ihenyen, has implored the country’s lawmakers  to consider crafting laws that regulate the crypto industry. As Nigerian lawmakers debate a bill that proposes a ten-year jail term for operators of Ponzi schemes.

Ihenyen, who heads the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), however, concedes that while the proposed bill does not expressly mention or refer to digital currencies, crypto Ponzi schemes are included in what the lawmakers call “prohibited schemes.”

The remarks by the leader of SIBAN follow reports that Nigerian lawmakers had passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the country’s Capital Markets, Investment and Securities Act for a second reading. Ibrahim Babangida, one of the lawmakers leading the push to have the law changed, is quoted in a Premium Times report explaining why this needs to be changed. He said:

‘’The bill prohibits Ponzi/Pyramid Schemes as well as other illegal investment schemes and prescribes a jail term of not less than 10 years for promoters of such schemes’’

In addition to seeking a custodial sentence, lawmakers also want the new law to grant the Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission the power to shut down Ponzi schemes. The lawmakers also insist the current law is not compatible with present trends in capital markets regulation, hence the need to revamp the act.

Zimbabwe entered into an agreement with Deadalus World Limited for collecting tax from crypto operators. 

The Zimbabwean government has recently inked a deal with British Virgin Islands- based Daedalus World Limited for collecting taxes from crypto and other content providers. 

ICT Minister Jenfan Muswere announced in a public notice published in the government gazette on January 19 that the country had entered into an agreement with Daedalus World Limited to assist with revenue collections from the new tax brackets, itweb.africa reported. 

Daedalus World Limited is a business management consultant company. The Southern African country intends to increase the state revenue and after its initial focus on telecommunications and mobile money, it has now turned its attention to e-commerce operators. Daedalus World Limited will be instrumental in collecting taxes from the companies that offer betting, gaming , and cryptocurrency services to persons and organizations within the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Also read : How to buy Ethereum in Nigeria: A step-by-step guide