The Markets | - Part 157

Blockchain Gets a Wall Street Win: `We Know the Thing Works Now’

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The prospect of blockchain technology remaking financial services just moved a step closer to reality after banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. completed a successful six-month test in the $2.8 trillion equity swaps market. The program, managed by blockchain startup Axoni, kept track of the swaps contracts after they were executed, recording things like amendments or termination of the deals, stock splits and dividends, and achieved…

Bitcoin Flirts With Record $8,000 High, Leaving Sell-Off Behind

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin has picked up right where it left off, capping a resurgent week by climbing within a few dollars short of a record $8,000 just days after a plunge of as much as 29 percent from the previous high tested the confidence of advocates of the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin has gained 17 percent this week, touching a high of $7,997.17 during Asia hours before moving lower in late trading. The rally…

UBS Shuns Bitcoin Allocations Due to Threat of Crypto Crackdown

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – UBS Group AG, the world’s largest wealth manager, isn’t prepared to make portfolio allocations to bitcoin because of a lack of government oversight, the bank’s chief investment officer said. Bitcoin has also not reached the critical mass to be considered a viable currency to invest in, UBS’s Mark Haefele said in an interview. The total sum of all cryptocurrencies is “not even the size of some of the smaller currencies” that UBS…

Bonds Extend Rally Ahead of Linker Auction

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s 10-year government bonds rose for a fourth day, set for the longest winning streak in two months, ahead of National Treasury’s inflation-linked bond auction, scheduled later Friday. The rand weakened against the dollar, broadly in line with other emerging-market currencies. National Treasury plans to sell 900m rand ($63.4 million) across inflation-linked bonds maturing in 2029, 2033 and 2050. This is the first linker auction with an increased issuance size,…

Tunisia SE Falls 0.4% to 6,115.94; Banque de Tunisie Leads

Posted on by The Editorial Team

TUNIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Tunisia Stock Exchange Tunindex fell for the third day, dropping 0.4 percent, or 26.09 to 6,115.94. The move was the biggest since falling 0.5 percent on Oct. 2. The MSCI Emerging Markets Europe, Middle East and Africa Index advanced 1.6 percent. Banque de Tunisie contributed the most to the decline, falling 1 percent. Industries Chimiques du Fluor decreased 3.3 percent, the biggest loss. Societe Immobiliere et de Participations rose 3.6 percent, the…

Bitcoin Emerges as Crisis Currency in Hotspots Such as Zimbabwe

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – About a third of the customers queuing at La Maison du Bitcoin’s teller windows in Paris aren’t speculating on the value of the cryptocurrency. They’re sending digital money home to Africa. “In many countries in Africa, there are far more cellphones than bank accounts,” said Manuel Valente, co-founder of La Maison. “For bitcoin, all you need is a phone.” Zimbabwe, where the price of bitcoin spiked to double the…

This Cryptocurrency Miner Says It Solved Bitcoin’s Power Problem

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A green-energy startup says it can solve bitcoin’s surging electricity consumption without boosting pollution, an issue threatening to halt the meteoric rise of the virtual currency. Austria’s HydroMiner GmbH raised $2.8 million after closing its first initial coin offering on Wednesday, according to its website. The cash will be used to install high-powered computers at hydropower plants, where the company says it can mine new digital currencies at a cheaper cost and…

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