Crypto in Africa: solar income for SA and OVEX 2nd funding round

The South African crypto industry is taking things a step further by making more investments in promising companies. Ovex’s revolutionary ideas are receiving more funds to implement their cryptocurrency exchange. On the other hand, the country is finding new uses for the blockchain, promoting the production and sales of solar energy.

OVEX secures second funding round from Invictus Capital

OVEX, a crypto exchange in South Africa recently received additional funding from Invictus Capital. The South Africans platform offers users a place to buy and sell more than 18 digital assets.

According to reports the second funding adds to initial funding provided by Newtown Partners and Civic. OVEX could use this new funding to grow its new feature which is a new type of interest account that gives users the chance to earn a maximum of 7% interest on their crypto balance investment.

Invictus Capital focuses on cryptocurrency investments after founding CRYPTO20, which was the first tokenized index fund in the world. Subsequently, the firm launched two other funds, namely the CRYPTO10 Hedged fund and the Invictus Hyperion fund. The firm invested in OVEX through the Invictus Hyperion fund. Invictus Capital said:

“The team behind Ovex has been working for well over a year to provide South Africa and international crypto-to-crypto market with a truly world-class product. The outcome this far is truly a superior exchange with differentiated features catering directly to their user base.”

OVEX plans to launch their marketing campaign shortly with the aim of increasing their market share. According to Invictus Capital: “The two firms aim to utilize existing synergies to help leverage their presence in the industry and bring some compensation to an otherwise monopolized market.”

Jonathan Ovadia, CEO OVEX indicated that, the startup was proud of the offering it had built during the Newton Partners investment. OVEX is working towards providing South Africa with an excellent product as well as to promote world-class liquidity. Ovadia said, “We have developed an exchange for all types of crypto enthusiasts, with an advanced trading interface as well as a simple one-click buy or sell option.”

Withdrawals of more than ZAR20,000 ($1,400) can currently be verified in a few minutes with the help of artificial intelligence and the partnership with Civic. In addition, their partnership with True USD allows OVEX users to trade cryptocurrency globally at international rates.

Turning solar energy into income using technology in rural SA

The introduction of decentralized systems is changing how energy is being produced; however, the sustainability of this system highly depends on a flexible grid. It will accommodate variable renewable energy sources as well as allow operators to create a balance between the supply and demand of electricity. In addition, sustainability requires an exchange mechanism that will links buyers and sellers.

Currently, Eskom, a South African state utility meets the above criteria by buying electricity from renewable power projects and reselling it to consumers. With the help of adequate technology, the power projects can sell and manage electricity directly to consumers.

To meet this objective, blockchain will be used to capture and record transactions, thus facilitating the development of small-scale electricity trading markets.

In South Africa, about 15.6% cannot access electricity and it is bound to remain like that in the near future due to the high cost of extending power lines especially to rural areas. A solution to this problem would be to have a decentralized grid.

The added advantage is that South Africa’s climate easily allows for solar energy harnessing. In addition, technological advancement has led to better and more affordable options to encourage solar energy. Panels are cheaper and they can easily be mounted on every shack. People harvesting extra power can in turn sell it to other homes. Blockchain will record all trades for easy management.

The vouchers will pay for government services and pay for loans taken to install photovoltaic panels. The blockchain application will therefore replace current billing and trading systems as well. Realization of benefits will cause more homesteads to harvest solar energy, and inclusion of distributed ledger technologies into energy trading places South Africa one-step ahead in the industry.