Mariblock Weekly

🟠 Ripple and Chipper team up on Africa payments

Plus: 🌍 Bybit partners African talent firm Alt School for tech education 🇰🇪 Kenyan official suggests collaboration with Binance for tech innovation

Ripple taps Chipper Cash in Africa’s cross-border crypto race

Topline: Blockchain company Ripple has partnered with African fintech Chipper Cash to enable faster, blockchain-powered payments into Africa, the latest play in the intensifying race to fix cross-border payment inefficiencies in Africa. (Details)

Key details: Chipper will use Ripple payments, which leverages digital assets for near-instant, low-cost transfers, according to a joint statement.

Ripple says this will allow Chipper’s users in nine African countries to receive payments globally, 24/7.
The move follows Ripple’s November 2023 partnership with Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa), connecting 27 African countries to the UK, GCC and Australia via crypto rails.

Of note: Ripple Payments runs on the XRP Ledger, where users can send and receive multiple currencies. It’s unclear whether Chipper’s integration will use XRP, stablecoins, or both.

Zoom in: Chipper isn’t new to crypto. It supports account funding with stablecoins like USDC and USDT across Ethereum, Solana, Base, and other chains.

The company also uses stablecoins for treasury and settlement efficiency, according to Circle.
Separately, Chipper offers dollar-denominated savings, virtual Visa cards, and U.S. stock investments. However, it’s unclear how much of that stack is powered by blockchain infrastructure.

Bybit partners African talent firm Alt School for tech education

Topline: Global cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has partnered with African tech talent development firm Alt School Africa to launch a $100,000 scholarship fund, supporting 1,000 of the institute’s top students. (Details)

Driving the news: The exchange announced that the scholarship fund launch also marks the beginning of Bybit Academy, with eligibility based on residency in a priority country, gender diversity, and high entry exam scores.

While Alt School already offers software engineering, product, data, the creative economy, and business programs, Bybit will introduce courses focused on technology and crypto.
Top-performing graduates from the program’s top ten will have the opportunity to become Bybit ambassadors and intern with the exchange.

Kenyan official suggests collaboration with Binance for tech innovation

Design by Ifeoluwa Awowoye for Mariblock.

Topline: Kenya is open to partnering with global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, according to John Tanui, principal secretary at the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy. (Details)

The details: The secretary made these comments at Binance’s community event held in the country last week.

According to Tanui, Kenya is positioning itself as an enabler for young Kenyans to explore crypto and artificial intelligence opportunities.
In addition, the country is working with global firms such as Binance to provide more learning and skill development opportunities for its citizens, Tanui said.

Meanwhile in Nigeria: Binance’s relationship with the Nigerian government has been far from smooth as the exchange remains entangled in a legal battle, facing money laundering and tax evasion charges.

The Nigerian government believed that the exchange was complicit in the rapid devaluation of its local currency last year and proceeded to crack down heavily on the firm.
Authorities detained two top officials of the crypto firm shortly before Binance discontinued its peer-to-peer trading platform in the country and restricted access to Nigerians.

Fresh allegations? Nigerian authorities recently accused Binance of facilitating illicit financing to fund criminal groups in the country.

The government is also seeking to prosecute Nadeem Anjarwalla for escaping custody.

Key quote: Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the country’s information minister, said:

“Nadeem Anjarwalla actually did escape lawful custody, and this is against our laws. Nigeria made a case with Interpol to apprehend him and bring him back to face justice.”

In our first edition of Sidebar, a Q&A series spotlighting voices shaping Africa’s blockchain future, we spoke with Chidubem Emelumadu, African Ecosystem Lead at Lisk, about supporting local builders and the realities of crypto adoption in Africa — here’s one sharp takeaway.