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Why Bitcoin Regulation Lags Where it’s Needed Most
International remittance is ostensibly one of the most compelling use cases for bitcoin and digital currencies. Recorded remittances to Africa grew four-fold between 1990 and 2010 and have increased steadily since. The World Bank projects $39bn in remittances to sub-Saharan Africa this year.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- regulations, remittances
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Argentina Challenges HSBC to Condemn ‘Financial Piracy’ As It Demands $3.5bn From Swiss Accounts
Argentina has challenged HSBC to publicly denounce alleged tax evasion at the bank's Argentine subsidiary, saying not doing so would be an act of "financial piracy".
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Latin America
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Indonesia, The Calm Before the Storm: Helix Institute discusses the implications of new regulations on the country’s mobile money agent networks
In Indonesia, regulatory uncertainly has kept big digital financial services players from investing to scale aggressively. But with new regulations, that may soon change. The Helix Institute examines the implications for Indonesian mobile money agent networks in the latest report from its Agent Network Accelerator Survey.
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- Uncategorized
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Viewpoint: Adopting the Lean Startup Approach
Most startups fail to take off. The traditional method of starting a business has been to come up with a business plan, get investors to back it, assemble your dream team, get a product in play and push it hard. But this approach often exposes entrepreneurs to risks that blindside them later. The same could be said of the big ideas often touted to help the poor in emerging markets, either with access to cleaner water and sanitation or education.
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- Uncategorized
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Viewpoint: Poor Man’s Rich Man
It looks like fish. It smells like fish. When unsold and unmarketable, it usually rots and goes to waste. But not so in the fisherfolk community in Iligan, where excess catch of fish in season are collected for livelihood. It’s like chicken dung gathered by another community in Naawan, Misamis Oriental, and coconut husks collected from copra farms by a cooperative of former rebels who laid down their arms for life with society. Rotten fish, chicken dung, coconut husks – all biowastes that can be converted to organic fertilizers that communities can sell and make a living out of. For them, it is a way to resist poverty through their own productive work. But this is just half of the story.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Bitcoin Exchange Expands to Kenya, Sees Potential in Using M-Pesa
Last week the 14-month-old Australian based Bitcoin exchange, Igot, launched in Kenya with the acquisition of local company TagPesa to target the country’s remittance market. In addition, Igot has also been granted access to the mobile money service, M-Pesa, giving members the ability to deposit and withdraw money directly from their M-Pesa account, currently used by about 17 million Kenyans.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- remittances
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How Impact Philanthropy is Shape-Shifting
A study by Exponent Philanthropy suggests philanthropists and family foundations are becoming more impact-oriented, doling out fewer grants but with larger dollar amounts given to only the top-performing nonprofits.
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- Uncategorized
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A Plan to Empower More Than One Million Women
There is a story that persists around the developing world, to the detriment of families and entire economies: Women are being sidelined from economic progress because of limited access to financial services.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- microfinance
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