I hope everyone is having a great Friday. Thanks for reading this week.
For those who missed it earlier this week, we wrote about how Lightning Network wallets are proliferating in Venezuela and what risks companies might face who try to operate there.
Besides that, here are several things we think you need to know from this week:
SUNACRIP revoked the licenses of two crypto exchanges in Venezuela. Cave Blockchain and Criptomundo lost their permits.
In El Salvador, a group of high-profile figures in the Bitcoin community appear to be assembling in San Salvador. They are likely advising on the country’s securities law ahead of a volcano bond issuance.
El Salvador’s finance minister Zelaya thinks the country’s volcano bond will be oversubscribed by 50%. He wants to issue the security between 15 and 20 March.
Blockstream’s Samson Mow met with Mexican legislator Indira Kempis before his trip to San Salvador. Kempis is a Senator from Mexico’s northern Nuevo León state who, though progressive, regularly antagonizes president Andrés Manuel López Obredor.
Square (Block) poured more cash into Colombian Movii with an early Series C reckoned to be around $50mn. Movii’s CEO Hernando Rubio said as much in a local Colombian media interview.
Italian renewable energy specialist Lorenzo Vallecchi argues that solar-powered Bitcoin mining would be a smarter bet compared to geothermmal energy for El Salvador’s special Bitcoin development zone (Bitcoin City).
The planned city appears to be a recovery of an earlier 2012 design produced by architect Fernando Romero.
SoftBank poured $60mn into crypto-focused credit startup Tribal. Tribal is based in Mexico and aimed at small and medium businesses. Coinbase Ventures also participated in the funding round.
In Mexico, compliance continues issues continue to pose problems for Fintechs. Around 60 companies are waiting in line for licenses, including Rappi and Mercado Pago.
Thanks for reading.