Zimbabwe’s Central Bank Officials Hint That Bitcoin Legalisation Is Still In Its Research Phase

Bitcoin has gained a large number of fans worldwide but Zimbabwe seems to be leading this drill with Bitcoin being valued at $15,000 in its exchange traded platform. Irrespective of its price surge, Bitcoin has not yet been imparted a legal tag by the Zimbabwe financial honchos. Popular Zimbabwean exchange platform Golix has registered trade worth $1 million in the month of October. Compared to the global average of $8000, Bitcoin Price was $14490 on Tuesday morning at Golix exchange.

TechZim, a regional new blog reported on Tuesday that the Central Bank of Zimbabwe has declared the fact that Bitcoin has not yet taken a legal shape in Zimbabwe.

However the central bank was quick to add that they shall conduct further studies on cryptocurrencies for analysing its intricate functioning. Norman Mataruka, the registrar and director of banking institutions at Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was quoted as saying:

“In terms of the bitcoins, as far as we are concerned, it’s not actually legal. In Southern Africa, what we have done as regulators, we have said that we will not allow this in our markets. Research is currently on, being undertaken to ascertain the challenges and risks associated with these particular products.”

He added that until the central bank had “actually established and come up with a legal and regulatory framework for them,” Bitcoin “will not be allowed” to transact with a legal shield in Zimbabwe.

Golix trade facilitators are already inspecting large volume transactions with utmost vigilance. Certified officials have stated that high value transactions shall require the identification verification of participating traders. The intervention by military chiefs restricting Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president in his Harare residence last week has caused a massive upsurge in the price of Bitcoins locally.

Experts have revealed that Bitcoin is being increasingly used both for buying goods like softwares and transmitting money from Zimbabwe. However further development in the same field in required to integrate crypto dealings into the payment plethora of travel, hotels, equity purchase etc.

The firing of Emmerson Mnangagwa by Mugabe about a month back has set the stage for widespread political turmoil causing investors to ditch the equity market of Zimbabwe. Market watchers hold the view that political upheaval is the main cause behind this bitcoin price surge. Foreign currency shortages and liquidity crisis has also been plaguing Zimbabwe for long triggered by the country’s low production abase. Improper policy decisions taken by Mugabe had also contributed to crippling the country’s foreign direct investment inflows.

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