All of the 1,628 locations of the South African grocery chain Pick n Pay now accepts Bitcoin. Customers will be able to pay for goods by scanning a QR code or utilizing smartphone apps. Users must first scan an item’s QR code using the CryptoQR app before moving on to the Lightning Wallet to validate the exchange rate and finish the purchase. The adoption of cryptocurrencies in South Africa is now ranked 30th worldwide. The action was taken after the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the nation’s financial watchdog, amended the financial advisory legislation in October to classify cryptocurrency assets as financial products, bringing cryptocurrencies under regulation for the first time in South Africa and enabling financial service providers to offer cryptocurrency both domestically and internationally. After years of testing the technology in a few outlets, the retail chain announced intentions to introduce cryptocurrency payments across the country in November.
According to credit rating agency Moody’s, Mango Market’s exploiter Avraham Eisenberg will benefit the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry. According to Cristiano Ventricelli, associate vice president of decentralized finance at Moody’s, SEC and CFTC regulatory efforts “could improve governance of the DeFi business.” The alleged market manipulator was charged on January 20 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while Eisenberg was charged on January 9 by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). On January 25, Eisenberg was sued by Mango Markets’ parent firm Mango Labs, which is seeking $47 million in compensation for Eisenberg’s alleged October exploit in addition to interest.
According to reports, a federal judge in the United States has given the go-ahead for tech giant Meta to proceed with the acquisition of a virtual reality business. Bloomberg reported on February 1 that American Judge Edward Davila The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, attempted to stop Meta from purchasing Within by requesting an injunction. Still, Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California rejected the request. Meta intended to acquire Within as well as its workout app Supernatural. The decision was a result of a case the FTC brought in July against Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The social media site and Messenger app from Facebook has potential rivals in the messaging and photo-sharing apps. In a November interview, Zuckerberg claimed that Meta was “powering through” any concerns about its plans for the metaverse.
Read about: UK Treasury Grants Time-Limited Exemption for Crypto Asset Businesses Amid Regulatory Shift
