So after sending out a circular to banks prohibiting them from opening and continuing to hold accounts for individuals and entities that trade in bitcoin and the rest of cryptocurrencies, the RBZ has used the strongest of terms to warn all of us not to go near cryptos. This time the communique was signed by Dr John Mangudya, the central bank governor himself.
The Governor Says Zimbabwe Must Not Lead
The most interesting bit for me was at the end of the very long and verbose warning:
The Reserve Bank will continue to closely monitor regional and global cryptocurrency developments in order to inform policy direction.
This was really disappointing for me. Instead of proactive action, learning and study the RBZ has decided to MONITOR developments elsewhere. Why should our story be just about following others? It really disappoints me because Zimbabwe was really leading in this new technology and development.
Even Experts Think Banning Cryptos Is Not Wise
I am grateful to a Techzim reader who posted the following quote in the comments to an earlier article I wrote. The quote is from a written testimony of J. Christopher Giancarlo, chairmanof the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission before the United States Senate banking committee:
We are entering a new digital era in world financial markets. As we saw with the development of the Internet, we cannot put the technology genie back in the bottle. Virtual currencies mark a paradigm shift in how we think about payments, traditional financial processes, and engaging in economic activity. Ignoring these developments will not make them go away, nor is it a responsible regulatory response. The evolution of these assets, their volatility, and the interest they attract from a rising global millennial population demand serious examination.
Anyway, What Else Did VaMangudya Say?
Here’s the full statement from the man:
PRESS STATEMENT WARNING AGAINST TRADING IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES
1. Further to the Press Statement issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (the Reserve Bank) on 20 December 2017 on the use of virtual currencies in Zimbabwe, the Reserve Bank wishes to reiterate that virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin do not have legal tender status as they are neither issued by the Reserve Bank nor guaranteed by the government.
2. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has not authorised or licensed any person or entity or exchange for the issuance, sale, purchase, exchange or investment in any virtual currencies/coins/tokens in Zimbabwe. Exchanges such as Bitfinance (Private) Limited (Golix) and Styx24 are not licensed or regulated by the Reserve Bank.
3. For the avoidance of doubt, dealers and investors in any kind of cryptocurrency in Zimbabwe are not protected by law. Virtual currencies are traded in exchange platforms that are unregulated, all over the world.
4. The opacity and pseudonymous nature of virtual currencies presents regulatory concerns due to the potential risks to the public and financial stability. The nature of cryptocurrency transactions make them the currency of choice for money launderers and other criminals, seriously undermining global efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Anonymity renders the transactions difficult for law enforcement agencies to trace.
5. Financial regulators around the world have identified the dangers and risks presented by virtual currencies which include risk of loss due to price volatility, theft or fraud, money laundering and other criminal activities.
6. Cryptocurrencies can be used to facilitate tax evasion as well as externalization of funds in violation of a country’s laws. Any instrument or platform that results in a flow of foreign exchange or value into and out of Zimbabwe (or between residents and non-residents), is therefore subject to approval in terms of the Exchange Control Act. The anonymity of transactions in respect of virtual currencies have the potential to result in exchange control circumvention as the transfer would not be effected and reported by an Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange.
7. Central banks are stewards of public trust and have an obligation to safeguard the integrity of payment systems as it has implications on financial stability. Cryptocurrencies have strong linkages and Interconnectedness with standard means of payments and trading applications can rely on much of the same infrastructure that serves the overall financial system.
8. In order to safeguard the integrity safety and soundness of the country’s financial system, and to protect the public in general, all financial Institutions have been required to ensure that they maintain sound and adequate anti-money laundering controls to enable them to comply with customer identification, verification and transaction monitoring requirements. Further, the Reserve Bank has directed banking Institutions not to provide banking services to facilitate any person or entity dealing with or settling virtual currencies.
9. Members of the public are hereby further, warned not to participate in the trade of cryptocurrencies
10. Any person who buys, sells, or otherwise transacts in cryptocurrencies, whether online, or otherwise, does so at their own risk and will have no recourse to the Reserve Bank or to any regulatory authority in the country. ,
11. The Reserve Bank will continue to closely monitor regional and global cryptocurrency developments in order to inform policy direction.
Dr J P. Mangudya
Governor
The Contradiction
The governor initially describes cryptos as pseudonymous (which they are) which means that if exchanges adopt standard KYC regimes (Golix and other exchanges have) crypto activity can be traced to individuals. Later the governor says the ‘anonymity’ of cryptos gives problems. Wait, which is it? Are they pseudonymous or anonymous? The governor cannot be at liberty to choose whatever words he wants to support a position.
Cryptos are pseudonymous and the beauty of the blockchain is that there is a permanent trace of all activity hence with a more creative and progressive attitude tracing money laundering and such evils could be easier on the blockchain than with cash definitely.
Is It Now Illegal To Hold Or Trade Bitcoin In Zimbabwe?
For all the words used by the governor, this remains unclear. In some part it appears as if he’s saying you can deal with cryptos at your own risk as long as you don’t use the banking system:
Any person who buys, sells, or otherwise transacts in cryptocurrencies, whether online, or otherwise, does so at their own risk and will have no recourse to the Reserve Bank or to any regulatory authority in the country
And it feels like it’s the banks themselves that have the burden of making sure they don’t receive crypto money. However, if I sell bitcoin to my brother, how will the banks ever know?
In another breath it sounds as if trading in cryptos is banned outrightly:
The anonymity of transactions in respect of virtual currencies have the potential to result in exchange control circumvention as the transfer would not be effected and reported by an Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange.
I will leave you to make your own conclusions…
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haaaa, that something else, actually Zimboz have come up with a mobile app that can let you buy or sell BTC, ETH and their own crypto that is under development. The good thing is that its a highly secured mobile app as you know that web apps are way more vulnerable than mobile apps. this app will allow the instant deposit of cash using local popular payment methods and the instant buy or sell of those the virtual currencies. you will receive alerts directly on your phone when the price range you set is achieved. it has multi-layers of security as it has been developed with the dominating languages in IoT. One most thing that is of great interest on the app is that, the team is planning to link it with chip and pin electronic cards which means you can the convert from virtual to fiat and use it to swipe locally, for international, efforts are being made to link it to mastercard so that using that card you can withdraw your money at any ATM and in most popular currencies e.g USD, GBP, ZAR
RBZ should not stop innovation!!
What is the name of the app
Lol! How are web apps more vulnerable than mobile apps?That is such a ludicrous claim. Poor security protocols exist in both web and mobile development. One could actually argue that it is harder to secure a mobile app than it is to secure a web app. As well, the language a piece of software is developed in has no bearing on the security of that software. What’s more important is the controls that put in place and the competency of the developers implementing said controls. With such misconceptions about computer security I’d think twice before using your app.
The reason why the US and other markets can experiment with cryptos like you advocate is because they constitute a small portion of their stable economies and thus any failure there will not bring down the economy and also where they are being allowed, they are being regulated in all manner of experimental ways and in very cautious and measured strategies. These decisions by central banks follow proper risk assessment by qualified professionals and entire departments. It makes no sense for Zimbabwe to be at the forefront of experimenting with a risky financial instruments as you hope for when we can experiment much later in the cycle. Imagine if the RBZ had gone head first in supporting and experiment with MMM. While tech-happy geeks can form an irrational hatred of regulation and tax in all it’s forms, it is necessary. So as far as cryptos are concerned the RBZ has no luxury to experiment with futuristic unregulated risky instruments when already we are struggling with the fundamentals of this economy.
Calm down and offer more immediate and relevant solutions
ayas, you are also not doing your researches much! you cant stop technology only because you have unstable economy. you will continue left behind only because you are afraid of experimenting so who do you want to experiment on your behalf? US? no!! why do you always want to let US experiment first? if you understand how crypto works you will then understand that it is very different from MMM!
It is a fact that Cryptocurrencies are a highly volatile, speculative and susceptible to abuse. THEY ARE STILL RISKY, there is no serious or credible debate about that fact. Cryptos are much just like derivatives were during the housing bubble (which helped crush the entire global economy). So in that sense they are comparable to MMM not identical or similar.
“you will continue left behind only because you are afraid of experimenting ” This is patently false, adopting a technology later does not necessary make you lag behind, Zimbabwe leads mobile money yet it adopted it later than other markets where it failed, Africa leads adoption of virtual banking yet it legs behind in financial infrastructure, ever head of the term “leap frogging”?
you are talking out of your ass.
I’m sorry to say, but you are very shallow and ignorant. MMM is a pyramid scheme, Bitcoin, litecoin etc are currencies – digital currencies, you can never compare the two.
Please do your research: “Cryptocurrency Use in Illicit Activity ‘Small’ Compared to USD Volume – US Treasury Official”. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, it estimates that annual illicit proceeds total more than $2 trillion globally. Some of the money laundering threats that Kenneth Blanco highlights include illicit cash, trade-based money laundering, illicit use of banks, prepaid access cards, and digital currencies.
Kenneth Blanco is deputy attorney general of the criminal division at the U.S. Department of Justice.
The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies combined is only 400 billion, much much less than the 2 trillion above.
Every business transaction, mode and medium has some measure or “risk”. You cannot stop business because of fear of risk. Risk is inevitable. All you can do is minimize it. Even cash has its own risks, it can be stolen, you can be robbed etc. Plastic money has its own risks and so does cryptocurrency. I think the RBZ does not understand how crypos work and they need to be educated. Unfortunately, it looks like it will take then a veeery long time to understand it. However,, you cannot stop technology , you can only choose to be behind it. Don’t say because of our economy we cannot experiment, what is there really to preserve? Cryprocurrency actually presents a big opportunity for our country but the authorities cant see it!!!!
hahaha….ths has got to be the dumbest thing ive heard ths whole yeah!!
Year not yeah. Seems dumb follows you everywhere
But Africa has unique problems that are different from the US. There is a reason why mobile money is really an African innovation. Our weak economy demands that we reimagine things and experiment more than we are right now. Waiting for someone who doesn’t share our problem to experiment on our behalf is not wise in my book
Africa has 54 countries, the RBZ represents one, I think we will be just fine. I dont see where the US comes in on this.
I hope we will be fine
The citizens investing in CC will not do as much harm to this economy as the RBZ already has, and continues to do daily, no matter how volatile they may be.
This is not regulation, this is short-sighted, unnecessary interference, on top of all the other crap they make us wade through just to perform a basic financial cross-border transaction.
moreover, there will be a POS facility where you can visit the offices and swipe to get your hands on to virtual currencies or you can drop cash and get you cryptoes instantly. we can not only experience automation of systems from outside of Zimbabwe. we Zimboz can do it, we have the capacity to unveil latest technologies. Guess what, the app will be available on playstore by friday, this coming friday.
Nothing wrong with following…. Test waters first… Look before you leap… They all have wisdom… He’s just saying take action step back… Not balanced… Did you give the pros of waiting
Am considering writing the pro’s of this move. Be warned it would be more of an academic position not my sincere conviction but I guess there’s merit in pursuing the logic.
Techzim style of writing is to present whatever has happened and then we give our honest opinion of that. That doesn’t mean the writer is right but that they have a sincere opinion. This stimulates debate and surfaces divergent views and that what defines success for us
“Wait, which is it? Are they pseudonymous or anonymous? The governor cannot be at liberty to choose whatever words he wants to support a position.”
FYI:
You can be pseudonymous and still remain anonymous, in fact in most cases the point of being pseudonymous is to remain anonymous.
People who achieve this for criminal activity use very complex programmes to achieve it.
So when the RBZ finds cash stashed under mattresses their reaction should be to ban cash and direct banks not to handle cash?
There is no standard procedure for criminality, visit the dark web and you will see varying degrees of crypto currency exploitation for criminal activity. As it stands even Ecocash is being exploited to pseudonymously scam people. With Cryptos that risk is increased. Blochchain currencies are the future don’t get me wrong, but regulations and rules must also evolve to protect users and reduce risk. RBZ has no capacity or room to lead in this sector just like we do’nt have the capacity to lead in space exploration, it would be nice yes, but the risk far outweighs the benefits. Digital currencies are inevitable Tinashe no need to break your legs rushing to meet a future that is here…. Relax lol
Hahaha I will try to relax…
I don’t agree that they don’t have capacity though. I think they just don’t have spine and foresight pure and simple. They also lack sincerity
It’s not a race its an evolution!
Evolution IS a race, with no prizes for second place. We have just tied our hands behind our back.
At the end of the day the RBZ has made it’s true concern known. Its not about protecting the public at all, how many banks have folded under the stewardship of the RBZ with depositors funds being trapped?!
“Cryptocurrencies can be used to facilitate tax evasion as well as externalization of funds in violation of a country’s laws. Any instrument or platform that results in a flow of foreign exchange or value into and out of Zimbabwe (or between residents and non-residents), is therefore subject to approval in terms of the Exchange Control Act. The anonymity of transactions in respect of virtual currencies have the potential to result in exchange control circumvention as the transfer would not be effected and reported by an Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange.” The RBZ is hiding behind this statement about tax evasion and exchange control…WHICH CAN BE READ THAT THEY ARE NOT GETTING ANY PART OF THE CRYPTO CAKE.
They have seen that they are powerless to control it and hence should ban it. If I was a smart RBZ boss, I would create an environment to promote crypto through framework and polices which compliment the banking system. A strong AML/KYC exercise would also be introduced to exchanges such as Golix with quarterly returns.
As of now I bet the RBZ has no clue whatsoever the volumes traded within the Golix exchange and actual transfers out or in of bitcoin. They are just speculating and taking blind guesses. Zimbabwe shall never prosper with such attitudes. Watch this space as Golix relocate to Mauritius or Rwanda and grow the business to a multi-million dollar African giant and leave clueless Mangudya scratching his head.
By the way Boss Mangudya, even if you ban Golix there is also an peer-to-peer exchange called localbitcoins – transactions are between private buy and seller. Good luck trying to ban them!
Financial institutions that handle cross border payments today pay licenses and fees to gvt, regulators and local authorities…. in the case of Golix these are all mostly forgon (this creates an unfair playing field and discourages formal entry into the industry by registered money transfer companies in favor of virtual exchanges) . When people transfer or receive money from outside the country through Money Transfer Agencies they are vetted and must provide documentation including proof of residence, use of funds etc these are checks and balances that ensure that money is being moved between borders legally, for legal purposes and to legal persons, consider terrorism, bribes, drug trade etc and the danger this poses when these checks are flouted, Golix boasts its ability to circumvent all this, Im sure from the gvt’s point of view you can see the threats that exist already and the opportunity for abuse. A multinational company can essentially launder and move money out of the country without declaring profits or even being registered locally by converting local proceeds into cryptos and then selling it out of the country for forex without paying taxes, without channels like Golix, all this is extremely difficult and risky today, it must remain so. So in that sense I maintain my stance that “The RBZ has shut the door on crypto currencies, tax evasion and flouting of forex exchange regulations”
Golix is creaming money off of the black market precisely because the business model is predicated on the existence of a variance between a formal exchange rate and a black market exchange rate for currency, this creates an opportunity for arbitrage and thus explains the premium that exists on the exchange. In a market like RSA where there is no forex black market to talk about, the business model will struggle thus I maintain that “Golix should move away from creaming money off of the forex blackmarket in Zim”. You must remember that even the forex dealers at Eastgate are also less sophisticated exchanges between sellers and buyers, that doesn’t make them any legal does it. Golix has automated the same principle and brings security for participants of an illegal activity.
Dude you are so naive it is astounding. For anyone to trade meaningful amounts on Golix they have to use a Zimbabwe bank account which by nature of falling under the RBZ jurisdiction has AML/KYC on its customers hence if you deposit irregular large amounts of cash your bank will flag and block your account. So the burden is on the banks to monitor their customers banking habits. There is no laundering done without the banks negligence.
And if the RBZ wanted to be proactive they would also apply the same anti laundering rules to Golix. You are missing the point in which the RBZ is not getting a piece of the action and hence wants to shut it down.
Just to show you how flawed your story is, even if Golix is shut down one can still deposit money into a prepaid debit card through any major local and buy bitcoin on localbitcoin or CEX with no problems. It’s still get to the same outcome.
If I want to sell my bitcoin I just find a buyer again on localbitcoin who will western union me hard forex United States dollars and not RBZ useless bondnotes!
Do our homework before you make false accusations buddy!
And Golix has KYC standards too (at the risk of appearing to be pro-Golix). I agree with you ShameOnRBZ, the RBZ has bloated out it’s eyes and they think just because they can’t see then no cypto trading is going on. Theyt have just made desperate Zimbabweans more susceptible to cons as they try to solve the currency woes we have here
i think you misunderstand the role of the RBZ, it is a regulator not an innovation hub, they regulate based on laws of the day, in this case Exchange Control Act (a law with explicit rules). The responsibility to innovate in this sector or to change the rules does not fall on the central bank. This is why very few innovations in the financial sector are driven by central banks. This frustration must be directed towards politicians who enact laws and direct government spending and ministries. That is your duty as a citizen to go to your law maker and make sure that you ask them to change the laws not to go to the RBZ and ask them to not enforce the law.
I can take that point. I am not sure which exchange control regulation they are enforcing here though.
the Exchange Control Act
1. You are naive. Today as we speak some companies and individuals are moving millions of dollars a day in the banking sector by paying people to use their identities to open bank accounts that each transact small amounts per day (some are out right stealing these identities) . Golix moved 20 million dollars so far, that is a substantial amount of money and some of it is organised around individual entities (visit your local CID office for more information). There are some individuals who have 20+ bank accounts they use to facilitate illicit forex deals, and multiple pseudonymous Ecocash accounts, what’s your point? And you talk about banks flagging transactions and notifying the RBZ, ever head of bribery and corruption within the banking industry?
2. “And if the RBZ wanted to be proactive they would also apply the same anti laundering rules to Golix.” Golix is not a registered traditional financial institution and the RBZ has no time to create a quick special regulation targeted at Golix, it is a process and legal journey to create such a regulation for cryptocurrencies, it is precisely why the RBZ has made this move while they study and devise regulations that apply to Golix, its Prudence.
“You are missing the point in which the RBZ is not getting a piece of the action and hence wants to shut it down.” You must be a troll surely, Of course the RBZ wants a piece of the action, that is their legislative roll, you do know that governments tax everything right? thats how they fund their operations, its not a conspiracy, its a well known fact
3. If someone uses a prepaid USD card to buy bitcoin then it’s different because they are not using local currency and they moving forex outside the country through traceable banking channels and registered institutions ie RBZ. Using local currency to buy a digital currency then converting it to foreign fiat while subverting traditional banking channels creates avenues for crime and tax evasion, the out comes are apples and oranges they are not the same.
4. It’s pointless to use USD to buy Bitcoin then sell the Bitcoin later for USD via Western Union less the transaction charges and fees at the same price, you’ll be losing money per transaction Einstein, where is the profit there? The reason why you can do it on Golix is because bitcoin on golix is worth more than bitcoin else where, it has a premium (bitcoin is worth 8800 today but on Golix its 13000) that 60% premium will make you a profit by trading it on the black market to acquire or dispose of forex. Without local banking channels, a vibrant black market and a premium the model won’t work.
You cant make money on Golix by buying bitcoin for USD and selling it for USD, ask anyone who uses Golix they’ll tell you that.
Let me dumb it down for you, if Golix has a 60% premium per transaction and the exchange rate on the black market is 50% per transaction then it means by trading on golix and then acquiring forex USD on the black market or by selling your bitcoin in another territory for USD you can make a profit of 10% per transaction, they call it arbitrage.
There is no arbitrage, I looked into it. That “10%” is chewed by card charges, ask/bid spread, Golix charges, etc. In my case the total charges amounted to more than 12%
Yes but if the difference was not there the 12% would be an add on cost that would make it more expensive than money transfer agents.
The fact that you keep singing about Golix moving $20 million shows me that you know nothing and hence don’t deserve a second more of my time.
Good day!
Ayas! Golix have stated themselves that they have moved that much, its not speculation.
It’s Good Night by the way
You really are a troll aren’t you?! I just hope you are being paid to show your ignorance.
There is a huge difference between trading $20 million and moving out $20 million. You are confusing issues of externalizing and of trading in your defense of the RBZ. U talk of people trading for the 10% profit in the same paragraph of externalizing forex.
Pick an argument, educate yourself on it then come back and post here.
I am on the East Coast by the way so it’s still daytime!
I never said they moved “OUT” 20 million, I said they moved 20 million (read properly), According to Golix people are using the platform primarily to make cross border payments, which means the marjority of that 20million represents cross border movement of money mainly outward bound. Peoplle trading on Golix dont achieve this by literally sending the money out directly on the platform , no, they take advantage of arbitrage (Google that I have no time to educate you) and they then leverage the black market to liquidate the premium into Hard USD which are then physically move across the border or into Bitcoin which is sold for Hard USD in the destination country either way they convert local currency into USD at a premium and move it out of the country to facilitate foreign payments or money transfer. This is the entire premise of Golix that’s why they call themselves a “cross border payments company”. It is this aspect that the RBZ wants to curtail because the exchange control act stipulates that all foreign payments and trasnfers from and to Zimbabwe must be done through formal channels according to the priority list of Gvt, Which part of this are you struggling to understand?
the problem is that from the East Coast of whatever continent you are on you somehow assume that you are smarter than the collective wisdom of experts on the ground with decades of experience in the industry, The RBZ has been in discussions with local exchanges for months leading up to this decision, they understand the inner workings of these exchanges and they understand the inner workings of the local financial system
You are being particularly hostile to ShameONRBZ. To be honest non of us are right. We only hold opinions and that’s not a bad thing.
I am sure officials from the central bank themselves are following our conversation and it’s important that as divergent opinions as possible get across to them
That’s besides the fact that I agree with ShameONRBZ…
my apologies tinashe for being hostile to Shame over here, I lost it when he/she called me naive and un educated in my opinion also when he decided to flaunt his geographical whereabouts in his argument as some kind of certification. but i digress..
Happy Go Lucky, you seem to forget the people you are dealing with. I agree with Shame in that you may be a little naive as it seems you trust the sincerity of the RBZ. They are actually trading in a virtual currency of their own (our very own RTGS system). They have turned an eye on Cash traders and my question is why?
@bibistole There is no question that the RBZ is a conduit used to siphon money for political and corrupt ends. That said my point remains the same. it is is the role of the RBZ based on the Exchange Control act to ensure that no Forex leaks out of the system. And they are doing just that, their motive is irrelevant no matter how sinister or onnocent, the point is that their decision is legal and based on their objectives it is wise, wether that money ends up in the hands of politicians or it builds a hospitals in Rusape is irrelevant.
So we ban someone because they have made someone else less competitive? The nature of technological disruption is that any industry that is protected by mere regulation ala banks is under threat of disruption.
Exchanges can and do have KYC compliance.
The existence of the black market is evidence of a bigger problem than Golix and that they set out to solve that problem is a good thing. All business are created to solve a problem otherwise they will fail.
I have a little brother who is in the US studying, you can’t imagine how difficult it is to pay his fees from Zimbabwe. If someone cpomes to solve that problem that Mangudya et al created for me, I am happy
So Mangudya is bitter with bitcoin coz he has been to China, London, America and Qatar and come back empty handed? Don’t blame Golix for your own failures of no forex. Lol
So Mangudya is bitter with bitcoin coz he has been to China, London, America and Qatar and come back empty handed? Don’t blame Golix for your own failures of no forex. Lol
I don’t know
Let me say this. Most Zimbabweans are not well informed in this area. The RBZ in its full capacity will never be able to regulate, or at least monitor the holding, or movement of cryptocurrency. The make-up of crypto specifically bitcoin gives it the ability of stealth movement amongst traders. Even if the RBZ bans the trading of Bitcoin here in Zimbabwe, well there are a million ways bitcoin traders can convert their hold into cash at a press of a button. I am a cryptographer myself and a self proclaimes blockchain analyst. I have been studying the ledger and all the movement. The re-emergence of “ghost coins” and “zombie wallets”, of these are becoming a headache for even the best of the first world economies and technologies to keep track of, then the RBDead in its supreme ignorance and infance thinks it can ban bitcoin in Zimbabwe. The first law of banning something is that the banned item should be capable of being owned by a sole owner, and bitcoin is exactly the opposite. Bitcoin is just a input or record on a world ledger called the blockchain and the blockchain is decentralizied and shared among hundreds and thousands of computers wold wide. Goodluck confused Mr Mangundya. I would have loved that you engage the public first before making such decisions, because if you had, then we would have given very wise advice, that instead of banning, how about just taxing exchanges, even capital gains would have done the trick. That way you could in the least, keep track of the fiscal aspect of bitcoin trading.
To the wise, is wisdom, but to the fool is much folly!
Apologies for any typos.
The RBZ is a regulator they don’t create, adjust or evolve laws, Parliament does that, they also do not incubate or innovate financial services startups the government thorugh various ministries and bodies does that. if you want to participate as the public you go to your law makers and you ask them to repeal or amend or replace the Exchange Control Act you dont go to the RBZ, The RBZ cannot change laws. I’m impressed that you actually would like to participate in the process with your smart idea`s that is good and we need more people like you, however your frustration are misdirected towards the Governor, go and vote for law makers that put in place progressive laws.
Whats happening here Its the same as shouting at the commissioner of prisons for keeping wrongfully accused prisoners behind bars, his job is to do just that, he doesn’t decide who is innocent or not.
My frustrations are not misguided at all, trust me on this. I work in the financial sector and I know what trigured this sudden move. RBZ for a long time has been distancing itself from crypto for quiet a while now, with warnings and “if you lose money its your fault” style comments. Until two weeks ago when a naive Zimbabwean walked into the RBZ asking that his funds stored in BTC be transfered into his local bank account without any flagging after he had completed an OTC trade with an external entity. At first I did not believe the amount of BTC he was rumoured to have until I sat down with some guys at Steward (yeah, of all banks), and they revealed how he walked into the bank asking for the nostro account details so that he could complete the transaction, he was then directed to the RBZ and two weeks later there is a sudden rushed press release.This is not the first thing that has been banned in Zimbabwe this way and certainely not the last time. As long as it makes you money and the government can’t have a piece of it, it will be banned.
And by the way, the moment you use the word “vote” in the context of the Zimbabwean government, then this will be the folly I just mentioned. We can barely get our votes heard on basic amendments to simple policies eg gold and minerals act (which by the way has had hearings after hearings and votes after votes) to structural provisions, let us not even begin to mention voting for lawmakers. God forbid, I am not saying we shouldn’t vote! But I am saying the fact that we can still have things of this nature happening in a Zimbabwe that claims to be “Progresive” and my favourite line “Open for business”, is completely unheard of. There are thousands of online freelancers here in Zimbabwe; writers, programmers, graphic designers who are paid in cryptocurrency because of our already failed banking system that makes it exremely difficult for the ordinary Tom Dick and Jane to get his payments via his local bank. Instead one would just convert his hard earned crypto into ecocash and thats it. I do get your train of thought, but it is extremely flawed because what you havent realised yet, is mostof these decisions are nt being made from a logical and regulatory point of view, but rather from selfish and intentions fueled by greed.
“if I cannot have it, then neither wil you” said the priest as he threw away the wine from his faithful congregant.
I can attest to freelancers who are struggling to get their money into Zim. We have heard some ask us what they could do
Hmm, this is quite a story….
I hope the motivations are not as vain as that, I just hope not
is it true though, this story u shared?
Yes it is a true story. You will be shocked how many Zimbabweans have stored in secret large anounts of BTC eversince its creation. In these Zimbabwean houses are folks quietly fondling their bitcoin private keys waiting for the right price before releasing their hold. It is no coincidence that all of a sudden your RBZ is now taking very extreme measures.
I understand your logic Happy but I still don’t agree with it. There is a lot else that the central bank could have done
My biggest fear is that now a lot of people will be duped by shadowy fellows because bitcoin transactions now have to be done in hiding. The exchanges were a checkpoint which the RBZ could regulate whichever they liked. A sandbox license would have worked now they have condemned us to the mercy of sharks
You are absolutely right! This could hae been handled far much better. There are more credit cards scams in zimbabwe than there are bitcoin scams. Why not then ban credit cards also? My government lacks much needed sense
I think happy go lucky should right an analysis of why the rbz may have done what they have done… So both sides of the coin can be seen… He’s obviously well informed… He by his own admission says Blockchain is the future but at present the rbz have no capacity… This makes total sense… There will be too many loop hole… So the better plan is wait and see… Only the users of golix at complaining because they want more for their USD…aka east coast ninja… By the way this black market price has no economics to it… It can change with the wind…
@Nice, “east coast ninja”? Lol, you made my day mate!
But I guess you have a point, I could be slightly biased coz I have some skin in the game. Truth be told Golix was offering a service and convenience that was second to none and it’s a shame RBZ doesn’t acknowledge the good that Golix did. Alas nothing lasts forever.
Back to road port…high rate anyone?
Besides there must be a better way to transfer money than bitcoin… If it comes up you’ll stop defending bitcoin
Cryptocurrencies are here to stay. As usually Zimbabwe will be 10 steps behind by the the time the rest of the world has evolved, improved, and successfully regulated the technology. By the time this government realises that in the future we will not be able to avoid the nature of blockchain financial transactions Zimbabwe will be the student and the rest of the world the teacher. Whats new Zimbabwe is CLOSED for business.
That’s RBZ for you, evertime when something good is happening Zimbabweans they come in and mess up. Worse they just pop-up such decisions without consultations from the public, business and other organizations.
These authorities policies are the reason why Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are in existence today and am
amazed and disappointed to say the least. Back in 2012 I even suggested that as Zimbabwe we should use Bitcoin for our exports but the reason why that can’t happen as usual has come out and mostly being ignorant.
Sorry to my folks but as Zimbos I know this is just a challenge we can overstep in a bit.
Have just published my special report on Bitcoin and
Cryptocurrencies, hope if the governer also reads it he will
then reverse his decision.
You can get it from my blog at bitcryptoguide.blogpost.com or simply go to my Twitter @Bitcoinguide2
Sorry no edit option had to double post as the 1st comment misses a word very crucial:
That’s RBZ for you, evertime when something good is happening for Zimbabweans they come in and mess up. Worse they just pop-up such decisions without consultations from the public, business and other organizations.
These authorities policies are the reason why Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are in existence today and am
amazed and disappointed to say the least. Back in 2012 I even suggested that as Zimbabwe we should use Bitcoin for our exports but the reason why that can’t happen as usual has come out and mostly being ignorant.
Sorry to my folks but as Zimbos I know this is just a challenge we can overstep in a bit.
Have just published my special report on Bitcoin and
Cryptocurrencies, hope if the governer also reads it he will
then reverse his decision.
You can get it from my blog at bitcryptoguide.blogpost.com or
simply go to my Twitter @Bitcoinguide2
Exactly why we should vote out these power hungry old men vaeende kumusha and their primitive ways