Altvest Capital Pioneers Bitcoin as Primary Reserve in Africa

South African investment platform Altvest Capital has made headlines by adopting bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset, a first for a publicly listed company in Africa. Warren Wheatley, Altvest's CEO, revealed that the company has acquired one bitcoin and plans to raise up to 200 million rand ($10 million) through a share offering to increase its bitcoin holdings. Wheatley stated that the company views bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset that enhances its treasury portfolio and provides a hedge against economic instability and currency depreciation, particularly the depreciation of the South African Rand.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced a two-pronged plan to establish a payment system for settling transactions in central bank money. The phases of the ECB's plan involve creating a settlement platform for facilitating transactions in central bank money and exploring a long-term solution for using central bank money in digital ledger-based transactions. Piero Cipollone, an ECB Executive Board member leading the approach, stated that the central bank is embracing innovation without compromising safety and stability, contributing to enhancing European financial market efficiency through innovation.

The launch of Microsoft's new quantum computing chip, Majorana 1, has sparked discussions about bitcoin's potential vulnerability to quantum computer attacks. While such a quantum computer is still far off, River, a bitcoin exchange, estimates that one capable of reaching the 1 million qubit mark could be developed by 2027-2029. Critics argue that if such a quantum computer were to be developed and weaponized, it would first be aimed at large financial institutions rather than bitcoin wallets. Prominent cryptographer Adam Back has suggested that post-quantum signature research could lead to improved, more efficient signatures that could be integrated into the bitcoin network to strengthen it.