Nigerian crypto exchange Roqqu receives European virtual currency license

Nigerian crypto speech Roqqu was granted a virtual currency licence for the European Economic Area, aft 2 years waiting for the support from regulatory authorities. The determination allows the steadfast to run successful 30 countries and broaden its services wrong 1 of the world's largest crypto markets.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, the institution said that  seeks to pull aboriginal traders looking to summation an borderline successful the crypto abstraction by offering a amended acquisition for newcomers and competitory fees.

With the expansion, Roqqu plans to scope implicit 5 cardinal users successful 2023, up from 1.4 cardinal users successful Nigeria, the lone state successful which the speech operated until the licence was granted. Among the African countries wherever the speech plans to supply services successful the coming months are South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Africans surviving overseas person sent implicit $5 cardinal yearly to relatives backmost home, told Cointelegraph Roqqu CEO Benjamin Onomor. In immoderate cases, remittances tin instrumentality days earlier reaching the destination.

"It makes a batch of consciousness to lick this occupation by utilizing crypto arsenic the vehicle, crypto is simply a faster and cheaper way that tin span the spread and assistance trim fees successful moving wealth globally. This is the halfway of the occupation we privation to solve."

Over the years, cryptocurrency adoption has grown successful Africa. According to information from Chainalysis, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) portion is the fastest increasing successful the world, with users transitioning $566 cardinal successful cryptocurrencies betwixt July 2021 and June 2022, a 48% summation compared to the erstwhile year. 

Related: Nigeria revisits its payments scenery amid sluggish eNaira adoption

"It went from being perceived arsenic a scam oregon different signifier of Ponzi strategy to 1 of the astir sought aft plus classes successful Africa.", commented Onomor astir the manufacture improvement successful Africa.

Among the challenges faced by the crypto assemblage successful the portion are "lack of entree to bully net oregon adjacent immoderate signifier of net successful general, debased fiscal literacy and a deficiency of method know-how.", Onomor said. For crypto startups, deficiency of bundle absorption tools and unclear regulatory guidelines are large obstacles. Onomor besides noted:

"One of the astir beauteous things astir the crypto manufacture is that it's a satellite of endless opportunities. With each situation faced, crypto startups find a mode to innovate astir it."

Nigeria is Africa's astir populous state and 1 of the region's astir salient crypto hubs. As reported by Cointelegraph, Nigeria's first Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN) node was precocious launched, strengthening the continent's transportation to Bitcoin's layer-2 payments network. Its cardinal slope is besides examining the adoption of blockchain exertion to powerfulness a cardinal slope integer currency (CBDC).