‘Not Considering’: Zimbabwe Government Clarifies Stance on Legalising Cryptocurrency

Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe’s minister of information has said that the government is studying Central Banking Digital Currencies (CBDC).

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 11 November 2021 14:08 IST

‘Not Considering’: Zimbabwe Government Clarifies Stance on Legalising Cryptocurrency

Since cryptocurrencies are unregulated and untraceable, its potential misuse is concern-worthy

Highlights

Zimbabwe is not legalising cryptocurrencies anytime soon
The country is studying about bank-issued digital tokens
The crypto market meanwhile is booming in Africa

This week, a Zimbabwean government official hinted that the country is considering the lagalisation of cryptocurrency as a legal tender. Addressing the media reports around this, the IT ministry of Zimbabwe has clarified that their government is not considering the introduction of another currency in the economy. The clarification has been issued after due diligence with Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe's minister of information. The alert has been tweeted by the nation's IT ministry in order to curb the rumours and misinformation around crypto-payment facilitation.

In a tweet posted by Zimbabwe's Ministry of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting, the government has stated that the Zimbabwean Dollar (ZW$) remains the official and only legal currency of the country.

The nation is assured that Government is not considering introducing another currency in the economy as reported in the media. The local currency remains the Zimbabwe dollar (ZW$) and not cryptocurrency#postcabinetbriefing pic.twitter.com/w5eQhxeufM
— Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting (@InfoMinZW) November 9, 2021

Mutsvangwa, has however revealed that the government is in the process of analysing the concept of Central Banking Digital Currency (CBDC). Also called the “digital fiat currency”, CBDCs are valuable digital tokens that can be regulated and issued by the central bank of a country.

“Like most countries in the world, the Government of Zimbabwe, through its Financial Technology Group, is studying Central Banking Digital Currency as opposed to cryptocurrencies, Bitcoins or any form of derivatives,” media reports quoted Mutsvangwa as saying.

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Whether or not Zimbabwe adopts cryptocurrency is something that remains under question as of now.

Earlier this week, Charles Wekwete, the head of the e-Government technology in the South African country had said that discussions on legalising Bitcoin payments are underway with the private sector players about legalising cryptocurrencies.

The official had also said that the crypto-space is brings about several fears about cross border movement of funds, money laundering, externalisation of funds, especially to fuel illicit activities, as per a report by Zimbabwean news portal Bulawayo24.

The crypto culture is seemingly rallying in the African region, statistics reveal.

Between July 2020 and June 2021, Africa's cryptocurrency market grew by 1,200 percent – making up for a whopping $105.6 billion (Rs. 775 crores), a recent report by Chainalysis revealed.

“Cross-region transfers also make up a bigger share of Africa's cryptocurrency market than any other region at 96 percent of all transaction volume, versus 78 percent for all regions combined,” the report said.

In September this year, El Salvador became the first country in the world to legalise Bitcoin as a legal tender. The country has also given $30 (roughly Rs. 2,221) worth of Bitcoin to all its citizens who downloaded and registered on the Chivo e-wallet.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Zimbabwe, Cryptocurrency, El Salvador, Bitcoin

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More