Ethiopian authorities are now requiring all cryptocurrency businesses to register with the Information Network Security Authority (INSA) within ten days.
Cryptocurrency A registration scheme is made possible by amendments to a law that gives INSA the power to oversee crypto products and transactions.
The initiative comes as Ethiopia looks for a legal framework to address growing interest in cryptocurrency mining and investment, an industry once banned by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE).
The NBE governor told CGTN News in June 2022 that the central bank’s regulations only recognize paper money and that there are legal consequences for people to trade in cryptocurrencies. The bank will conduct further research, he added.
Ethiopia wants to blaze a trail in the field of cyber security
Companies operating without INSA registration will be prosecuted. The INSA claims it has avoided 97 percent of cyber attacks in the country since July 2021, saving Ethiopia around $26 million. Through its registration program, Ethiopia hopes to be the first African country to offer investors protection from criminal crypto businesses from a cybersecurity perspective.
Ethiopia trails Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria with 1.8 million cryptocurrency holders. High black market prices for scarce dollars have encouraged cryptocurrency adoption through nine local exchanges in Ethiopia.
Cryptocurrency exchanges can be targeted by cybersecurity hackers when dealing and holding large amounts of digital assets. The most notorious example is the multi-million dollar hack of Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox in 2014. In December 2021, hackers stole $200 million from another exchange, Bitmart.
Hackers can target victims by doubling their money after their initial investment. Hackers can then escape with their cryptocurrency, leaving investors with bags.
Attackers can also use keyloggers or different malware programs to get people to reveal their personal information, which is then sold on the dark web for small amounts of cryptocurrencies.
Uganda outlawed, CAR in trouble
Oct 2019 & Feb 20, Five Uganda Crypto firm shuts its doors, taking $26 million worth of client funds. In February 2021, Uganda’s parliament criminalized a Ponzi scheme that cost investors $2.7 million and penalized payment providers that made crypto transactions possible.
The Central African Republic has come under fire for its recent adoption of bitcoin as legal tender, and the country could have opened its doors to financial crime, experts warn. One expert believes that Bitcoin enables illicit transactions by the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary group vying for national sovereignty.
For Be[In]Crypto’s latest Bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here .
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