Zimbabwe’s central bank issued Circular to Banking Institutions No. 2/2018: Virtual Currencies, effectively banning all crypto activity in the African nation. Businesses dealing in decentralized currencies have 60 days to comply.
Also read: India’s Supreme Court Keeps Ban on Banks’ Crypto Services, For Now
Zimbabwe Bans Crypto
Issued 11 May, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the country’s central bank, laid out seven points in ordering the shutter of things crypto within the southeast African nation. Referencing two previous circulars going back as far as three years ago, the notice explains “’banking institutions’ attention is once again drawn to the risks involved with virtual currencies and the need to ensure strict adherence to sound risk management. Our investigations have revealed that the major cryptocurrency exchanges facilitating the trade of virtual currencies in Zimbabwe are Bitfinance (Private) Limited (Golix) and Styx24. Golix has gone further to set up an ATM machine through which cryptocurrency transactions are facilitated.”
Indeed, these pages first reported on the Golix crypto ATM last month, highlighting how “‘Since we got the machine, lots of people have come to check it out, to touch it,’ Golix representative Tawanda Kembo told Bitcoin.com. ‘At least 10-20 people walk in every day, since we launched it last Friday.’”
Crypto was widely thought to be something of a saving grace for the population, as we explained how the nation has a notorious relationship with monetary policy. “There is an acute liquidity crisis In Zimbabwe,” News.Bitcoin.com reported, “and so getting physical US dollars is both cumbersome and expensive (and illegal, the cash has to be bought on the black market).”
Fall of last year, another Golix spokesperson insisted, “there is currently more demand than supply of bitcoins…
