Zimbabwe And Crypto Is A Marriage Made In Heaven
I have seen a few articles talking about Zimbabwe lately with regards to making Bitcoin a legal tender. I wouldn't read much into this honestly for now
even though it makes more sense for them than El Salvador. I believe it will happen but when its the big question.
The problem comes in with neighboring countries who will be up in arms. Africa tends to drag it's feet hoping the rest of the world finds solutions as in the case of regulations. What regulations does one impose and how do they come up with them is what is going to take the time here. Zimbabwe have maybe 30% of their population working in South Africa and the South African's will be wondering how this new legal tender will affect them. This should be fun to watch as now we will see how ignorant and non tech savvy these Governments really are.
South Arica stated recently it was a criminal offence to send crypto across it's borders without going through the correct channels of the Reserve Bank. There are so many Zimbabweans working legally and illegally in South Africa currently sending money back to loved ones via crypto wallets.
Zimbabwe doesn't have a currency of their own as the Zimbabwe Dollar maybe around yet no one is brave enough to use it or accept it for obvious reasons. The currency depreciates so fast you need to run to the shops as walking will cost you too much in losses. The currency value was changing several times a day and why everyone moved onto the US Dollar and the South African Rand.
As a country the people are technical savvy and cannot be underestimated as if there is a scheme to be had there is always a Zimbabwean involved. I have come across so many sharp individuals who pick things up so quickly it is scary. I think they have been forced to think this way as they have had so many economic hardships thrown at them it is a survival mode they have adopted.
In 2018 which is only 3 years ago the country had a somewhat negative approach to crypto as like most countries they felt threatened.
Bitcoin was very popular with the people in Zimbabwe as why wouldn't it be with the local currency back in 2017 experiencing 175% per month inflation. You would have no option but to bale into something that was less volatile and jokes aside crypto even back then was safer than the Zimbabwe Dollar. In 2017 when Bitcoin was at $8000 the local Zimbabwe exchange was selling them for $13 500. Crypto adoption back then was double the adoption rate around the world so nearly 5 years on one can only imagine how many of the locals have Bitcoin wallets.
The need for having a currency that could be stored in a wallet and not in a bank was not a choice but a must have back then. The banks would close their doors and not allow access to funds regularly so what would anyone do in that situation but seek an alternative currency.
If any one country in the world is ready for full crypto adoption Zimbabwe is it as the people want a currency they can use. This would be like a reset to the economy and they could introduce the digital Zim Dollar to work alongside crypto. The Zimbabwe Government has no choice but to leagalise and make Bitcoin a legal tender as they are no doubt missing out somewhere. The P2P that must be happening behind the scenes as the law forced crypto underground is what is costing the Government in lost taxes. Personally I think this is the real reason for this sudden change of heart as they have no choice but to do this now.
I believe there is a big difference between why El Salvador and Zimbabwe will have Bitcoin as a legal tender. Zimbabwe by the locals already using it has forced the hand of the Government leaving them no choice if they want to be part of it. In El Salvador the President wanted to offer something that he believed in would make a difference to the people and wasn't as widely used as in Zimbabwe's case.
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Illegal to send across the borders without what? Taxes/Cut
Decentralized?🤔
No the law here is it is deemed illegal sending crypto to another exchange outside the countries borders. They want to control the flow of foreign currency exchanges and would rather you applied for permission which isn't going to happen. This may sound stupid but even if you are buying things from another country on your credit card you have limitations. If you are travelling that is a different story but sitting at home buying online you have limits. They want you to buy on the local exchange and to not send it anywhere else especially to Binance or another exchange.
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That sounds horrible... Sounds to me that so much control is equal to the fear of the people. They want a piece of everything. SMH
It is the foreign currency controls that we have to live with and why using alternatives is way better and easier. I know businesses having to wait to place orders as they have to wait for shipments to arrive first before new orders are allowed to be made again. This is all down to the controls imposed and wanting everyone to use banks.
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It will happen in other countries although I am not sure it will be this one. We are likely to see more Central or South American countries jump on board.
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Zimbabwe within 2 years for sure as the Government is being forced to go this route as they are losing too much now.
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Was in Harare exactly 5 years ago at a BTC conference hanging with prominent Zimbabwe BTC people who ended up on my show through the years:
Crazy to think they were involved already back then and it makes sense. I know quite a few Zimbabweans and most of them have some type of crypto as it is kept on them and because they are moving around so much it is easy to use.
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Id love to see the first Bitcoin domino fall in Africa, would really heat things up and the game theory will force others to adopt or lose skill and talent and capital
If implemented, and properly implemented, it could solve larger institutional issues like corruption. Crypto really is the last hope for the common man
I honestly expected more countries to be jumping in on this before now. I guess a lot of them are still just waiting around to see what is going to happen with El Salvador.
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You can see in the developing countries especially in South America really adapting Bitcoin as its staple coin because of ongoing corruption so it is surely going to go the same way in your part of the world. It's more a matter now of who goes first. Looks like your neighbour is leading the way.
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We still think in terms of countries, but crypto will cause national borders to be redrawn or erased entirely. What matters the most is individual / merchant adoption, and I think the regions of the world with the youngest average populations will be the first the adopt crypto (Africa, Latin America, and South-East Asia).