REPORT | Money Laundering Through Cryptocurrencies Fell Substantially in 2023, F...
source link: https://bitcoinke.io/2024/02/sun-exchange-pivots/
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South Africa’s Bitcoin-Powered Energy Fintech, Sun Exchange, Pivots from Crowdsourcing Model to Institutional Funding of Solar Projects – BitKE
Sun Exchange, a South African energy-fintech startup, has declared a shift away from its original Bitcoin-powered crowdsale model towards an institution-focused approach for funding small-scale solar projects.
Founded in 2015, the company initially identified institutions with viable solar power projects – such as schools and businesses – listed the projects, and individuals from anywhere in the world would invest in the projects typically contributing funds in BTC.
Sun Exchange Leverages #Bitcoin to Complete the Biggest Crowdsourced Project of Any Kind in Africa
https://t.co/aySLOS0M0I @TheSunExchange
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 7, 2022
“The initial inspiration for Sun Exchange was rooted in the urgent need to address the climate crisis, and that remains a powerful motivator for us. However, we now also find ourselves playing a critical and unexpected role in responding to South Africa’s energy crisis. This has brought challenges and opportunities that are bigger and more urgent than we could have imagined in the early days,” the startup said in a statement.
“With a landscape that has so markedly changed in recent years, it’s become increasingly clear that for Sun Exchange to continue growing successfully and sustainably, we too must evolve.”
The startup was able to create a community of over 20,000 members spanning approximately 170 countries. Through this network, Sun Exchange facilitated the provision of solar power to over 90 high-impact organizations, including schools, farms, retirement homes, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations, among others.
Sun Exchange also collaborated with local NFT platform, Momint, to launch SunCash, a website where South Africans could invest in solar power projects for as little as R150 ($8.33).
Momint Partners with Sun Exchange to Launch SunCash – a Solar Power Blockchain Investment Initiative in South Africa
The initiative operates on a crowdfunding framework that enables several investors to finance a single projecthttps://t.co/CTexdJIiUc @SunExchange @MomintNFT
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 22, 2023
The company is transitioning its focus entirely to full-service commercial solar power and energy storage project development. All projects will now be funded through a growing global network of corporate and institutional funders.
South Africa's Sun Exchange Transitions from #Bitcoin -powered crowdsourcing
'The growth in funding from institutions stands in stark contrast to the decline in crowdsale demand over the last two years, which we believe is due to a complex confluence of internal and… pic.twitter.com/KlVJWBc6ss
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 26, 2024
“This enables us to continue serving our core sectors of high-impact organizations including schools, retirement homes, NPOs, and agriculture while expanding into larger commercial and industrial projects as well.
The most difficult part of this transition is that we’re moving away from the original crowdsale-based model, which has been core to Sun Exchange since its founding. It’s what allowed us to build a global community of solar power supporters and what established Sun Exchange as an innovative industry leader,” said the company.
“The crowdsale model is, unfortunately, no longer a viable business model for Sun Exchange.”
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In 2023, illicit addresses sent $22.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency to services, which is a significant decrease from the $31.5 billion sent in 2022, an upcoming report by Chainalysis indicates.
“Some of this drop may be attributed to an overall decrease in crypto transaction volume, both legitimate and illicit. However, the drop in money laundering activity was steeper, at 29.5%, compared to the 14.9% drop in total transaction volume,” the Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime Report says.
2023 also saw a drop in the value of illicit funds arriving in individual crypto addresses. 109 exchange deposit addresses received over $10 million worth of illicit cryptocurrency each, and collectively, they received $3.4 billion in illicit cryptocurrency. While that still represents significant concentration, in 2022, only 40 addresses received over $10 million in illicit crypto, for a collective total of just under $2.0 billion.
it’s possible that crypto criminals are diversifying their money laundering activity across more nested services or deposit addresses in order to better conceal it from law enforcement and exchange compliance teams. Spreading the activity across more addresses may also be a strategy to lessen the impact of any one deposit address being frozen for suspicious activity
– Chainalysis
In general, centralized exchanges continue to be the main destination for funds sent from illicit addresses, maintaining a relatively stable rate over the past five years, Chainalysis said. However, the role of illicit services has diminished over time, while the proportion of illicit funds directed towards decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols has increased.
“We attribute this, primarily, to the overall growth of DeFi generally during the time period, but must also note that DeFi’s inherent transparency generally makes it a poor choice for obfuscating the movement of funds,” Chainalysis said.
There was a huge increase in the volume of funds sent to cross-chain bridges from addresses associated with stolen funds and a substantial increase in funds sent from ransomware to gambling platforms and in funds sent to bridges from ransomware wallets.
Bridge protocols received $743.8 million in crypto from illicit addresses in 2023, up from just $312.2 million in 2022. North Korea-affiliated hackers have been among those to utilize bridges for money laundering the most.
Chainalysis, which was recently sued over its methods for identifying crypto crime, noted that fiat off-ramping services are important because they’re where criminals can convert their crypto into cash — ‘the culmination of the money laundering process.’
FUNDING | Kenyan Crypto On-Off-Ramp, Kotani Pay, Closes $2 Million Funding Round
Kotani Pay is set to introduce more products including Reconset, a Reconciliation-as-a-Service offering, and Money Ledger, a Ledger-as-a-Service solution, after acquiring Fuhlstack, a Nigerian… pic.twitter.com/FsW4JJRe6v
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) September 6, 2023
Most money laundering activity is concentrated on a select few fiat off-ramp services. Of all illicit funds sent to off-ramping services in 2023, 71.7% went to just five services, up slightly from 68.7% in 2022.
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