We are excited to return this week with the BIG5D Podcast. Our latest guest is Brenton Naicker, who is the Director of Capital Formation and Growth at CV VC, which is a Swiss blockchain-focused venture capital firm that is now actively investing in Africa.

We reached out to Brenton to discuss two broad topics. The first was to understand what the heck is going on in crypto, notably in the wake of the collapse of FTX and an overall very bad past year or so for the industry.

“I think it really is just an isolated few cases of really, really poor risk management, but by human beings to be quite honest,” Naicker said on the podcast.

Brenton believes that thoughtful regulation is a key element to bringing stability to crypto markets. And he expects that process to take at least a couple of years, given regulators around the world are not given to fast action.

Brenton has a background that gives him a unique perch to comment on all things blockchain and crypto. In addition to his current work as a blockchain investor, Brenton spent nearly two years leading business development and partnerships for the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

We also wanted to better understand why CV VC believes so passionately that blockchain is a uniquely useful solution for solving real-world problems in Africa and other emerging markets.

There are many reasons, Brenton explains. But it begins with demographics.

“The demographic situation in Africa…definitely leads to a better environment to build these new technologies,” Brenton said. “We've got the youngest population, you know, globally, at about 19 years old [on average]. Europe, I think, is about 55.”

We hope you enjoy the interview. You can also view a video version of Episode 34 of the Big5D Podcast on our YouTube Channel.

Interview Excerpts

The following are a few excerpts from our conversation with Brenton. Please listen to the podcast or watch the video to experience the complete interview.

So what happened with the recent crypto meltdown?

I think it was this Black Swan confluence of factors that really led to this contagion, that stemmed from the wider macro environment, plus [the actions of] some of the bad actors in the space. I think it really is just an isolated few cases of really, really poor risk management, but by human beings to be quite honest.

Why is Africa so uniquely suited to blockchain?

Africans are adopting cryptocurrency at a far more rapid rate, and are utilizing it in a very, very different way. They are using it for payments. I always tell us a story because it just blows my mind. There are 40-year-old street merchants in Nigeria, who can tell you what is the best network to send them USDT on to minimize the gas fees, or basically make the transaction as cheap and fast as possible. And that level of adoption and knowledge was just gained out of necessity.

What are some of the top use cases for blockchain in Africa?

Fintech is the lowest-hanging fruit. Sub-Saharan Africa [is among the] worst places to remit money to in the world. The costs are ridiculous. The charges there are sometimes 15% to 25%. If you look at the user base, they're sending the little bit extra that they can home to mom in a village. So that 25% is a significant value to be extracted. In local markets in Nigeria and Kenya and South Africa, it is completely possible right now to buy synthetic dollars as a US citizen, and remit that to Nigeria in 15 minutes for free. In fact, because of local premiums, you'd actually end up sending the person more money. So they get more money in Africa.

One important note. Nothing discussed on this podcast should be construed as financial advice.

Join Us in Cape Town

Brenton will be a speaker at the upcoming BigFive Summit, 15-16 March in Cape Town. Please use the promo code BIG5SUBSTACK at checkout for 25% off of the prevailing ticket price. Early bird prices expire at the end of February.

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