Challenges of informal crypto trading in Zimbabwe

in steempress •  5 years ago 


Zimbabwe is one of many countries that do
not recognize cryptocurrencies as a legitimate medium of exchange or as legal
tender.

Besides this lack of recognition, cryptocurrency use is also being held back by common barriers like the limited knowledge or internet access by potential users.

It matters little that some outside the country believe to be an ideal candidate for cryptocurrency adoption, a majority of Zimbabweans are simply not using this currency.

The use of alternative of forms of money like Bitcoin in Zimbabwe remains inconsequential when contrasted with the levels of hyperinflation or the lack of confidence in the national currency, that is the reality.

But why should conditions in the country force people to seek alternatives to government money in the first place?

Genuine case for crypto adoption

Firstly, hyperinflation—which Zimbabwe is facing for the second time in just over a decade—causes a serious erosion of earnings, wealth, pension savings when such funds are stored in the form of a volatile national currency like the Zimdollar.

So while government has suspended the release of official inflation figures, some independent economists estimate this to be north of 500% per annum and there a high likelihood it will to get worse this year.

Such a level of inflation causes chaos in markets and forces people to seek unconventional ways of insulating their wealth.

Secondly, the Zimdollar 2.0 or ZWL—which made a controversial return in 2016 after an eight year period of abeyance—has already depreciated considerably, from an initial



Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://africablockchainmedia.com/news/challenges-of-informal-crypto-trading-in-zimbabwe/2020/01/07/
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