Startups and Bitcoins in Bangladesh

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Startups and Bitcoins in Bangladesh
svyat (34) in bitcoin • 4 months ago
Bangladesh_art_cover.jpg

In 1971 Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan as a result of the popular uprising. It was followed by military coups and streets fights. Socialist, authoritarian, one-party state system was established in Bangladesh for the brief period of several month in 1975. In 1980th the country was ruled by a succession of autocratic governments mingled with military juntas.

In 1996 the Caretaker Government system (CTG), which was headed by the Chief Advisor and composed of the representatives of civic institutions, was installed. It lead to significant reduction in violence in Bangladesh. In 2011, CTG was dismantled by the right-wing Bangladesh Awami League (BAL). This decision was opposed by centrist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). It led to the boycott of 2014 elections.

Bangladeshi politics is strongly influenced by the Westminster system. The president of Bangladesh is a nominal figure, which ceremonially appoints the Prime Minister, who elects members of the Cabinet. Unicameral, 350-members Parliament - Jatiya Sangshad - is, today, dominated by BAL which holds on to 276 seats. The second biggest parliamentary faction Jatiya Party (JP), which represents interests of armed forces, has 40 deputies. Left-wing Workers Party of Bangladesh (WPB) has 7 seats.

In a past couple of decades the level of poverty in Bangladesh has been reduced from 60% to 30%. Bangladesh possesses the large natural gas deposits. It's also one of the World's biggest garments exporters. GDP growth rate has been steadily increasing since mid-1990th and reached 7% a year in 2017.

However, due to the fast growing population and regular famines Republic's per-capita is one of the lowest in the region. Much of the Bangladeshi population relies on subsistence farming to survive. Heavy floods, the frequency of which increases due to the climate change, take disproportionately heavy toll on Bangladesh located in the northeastern lowlands of the Indian subcontinent.

Bangladesh has a very large consumer base, which provides high-tech entrepreneurs with various market opportunities, specially in the niche sector of mobile Internet. However, startup ecosystem in Bangladesh has not been able to reach its full potential because of political instability, high administrative barriers to SME, poor population and underdeveloped infrastructure.

According to the Bangladeshi Central Bank's statement, issued September 2017, "anybody caught using the virtual currency could be jailed under the country's anti-money laundering laws". Transacting with Bitcoin or any other crypto currency is punishable by up to twelve years in jail. The current rise of nationalist, right-wing politics in Bangladesh doesn't leave too much room for improvement in mid-term official stance on cryptocurrencies and ICOs.

Business Notes for Startups Founders:

political climate: not friendly;
economic climate: marginally friendly;
regions to focus: locally;
industries to focus: e-services, e-jobs, entertainment;
major limitations: low-income consumers (per-capita is about $1500), fixed Internet penetration rate below 15%;
stimulus: accelerating economy (GDP growth rate is up from 5% in 2010 to 7% in 1016), large population of more than 160 million, low costs;
opportunities: to build an e-business aimed at young, fast growing generation of mobile Internet urban users in such markets as entertainments and FinTech;
Cryptocurrencies and ICOs (outlook): NOT legal (negative).

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4 months ago by svyat (34)$0.001 vote
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