Bitcoin Daily: UN Secretary-General Urges Blockchain Adoption; Africa Blockchain Institute To Open School In Rwanda In 2020

The United Nations (UN) needs to embrace blockchain, António Guterres, U.N. secretary-general, said in a statement to Forbes.

Guterres said blockchain technology will be a critical part of the U.N., which produces $50 billion in proceeds each year.

China, too, has prioritized blockchain, and the $6 billion U.N. Children’s Fund can receive donations in bitcoin and ethereum for some projects.

“For the United Nations to deliver better on our mandate in the digital age, we need to embrace technologies like blockchain that can help accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals,” said Guterres in the statement provided exclusively to Forbes.

The U.N. Innovations Network has five blockchain projects on tap that will help advance inter-agency collaboration.

Users of the blockchain payments platform MenaPay can now tip on the video live streaming service Twitch using the MenaCash stablecoin, according to Cointelegraph.

MenaCash is tied to the U.S. dollar and uses QR codes to enable viewers to donate to Twitch streamers. Viewers can support streamers by tipping during the stream or becoming a paid subscriber.

“Introducing MenaPay to Twitch streamers as a way to collect donations was a critical milestone in strengthening the bridge between the gaming community and blockchain technology,” said MenaPay CEO Cagla Gul Senkardes.

“Following the announcement, we saw incredible demand from Twitch’s viewer base, which also wants to use a simple means of donating. We made the necessary advancements and updated our app to support the gaming community further. Now, viewers can also integrate their MenaPay app with Twitch and make their donations from their smartphones in seconds,” she added.

Rwanda is getting its first blockchain school when the Africa Blockchain Institute (ABI) opens in 2020, Cointelegraph reported.

The school will offer five courses for developers, professionals and policymakers, ABI Executive Director Kayode Babarinde told Cointelegraph on Dec. 26 in an interview.

Following a successful pilot for the school in Ghana, classes will include a blockchain developers’ course, an enterprise blockchain course, blockchain for lawyers and blockchain for impact.

“Every technology company is looking for an enabling environment to serve the continent. This means supportive policies, resource management and visibility for the market. All these make Rwanda stand out in Africa,” he said.