Bitcoin in Zimbabawe? Killing it.

As with the rest of the world, interest in bitcoin is soaring in Zimbabwe. But, unlike the rest of the world, it is becoming a legitimate way for Zimbabweans to do business in a country strapped of cash.

Yeukai Kusangaya, who coordinates trades at the Golix bitcoin exchange in Zimbabwe, told Quartz how “there is currently more demand than supply of bitcoins”:

“Interest in bitcoin has peaked as people cannot send money outside or pay for international transactions using formal banks,” said Kusangaya.

“People have had to look for alternatives and bitcoin has been a useful solution which can be used to purchase goods on Amazon or to pay for vehicles from international suppliers and traders,” she said.

Click here to check 10 things you can buy using bitcoin in Zimbabwe, including airtime, day trading and online payments.

On Monday, bitcoin prices were trading around $9 600 (R132 000) on the Golix exchange platform in Zimbabwe.

On other global bitcoin exchanges, prices were just below $6 000 (R82 000).

This comes as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has forced importers and individual traders to mobilise foreign currency through their own means, “mostly on the parallel markets as the central bank is failing to effect payments to international suppliers and creditors and this has stoked up inflation, say economists”.

You see, to offset crippling bank note shortages impacting the country, the RBZ has been:

…printing bond notes (Zimbabwe’s own version of US Dollars) that are supposed to have equal value to the greenback but are actually trading at a premium of about 30% to the US dollar on parallel markets…

The results of this situation have been crippling; rising prices of household commodities and foodstuffs, continued shortages of cooking oil as manufacturers cannot pay for imported raw materials on time and retailers reject other means of payment such as mobile money and plastic money, preferring cash.

The country has even banned the import of fruits and fresh vegetables, saying it’s “wasting scarce foreign currency resources”. This is even though local producers have warned that it may “lead to shortages of apples and pears among other fruits that are in short supply locally”.

Uncle Bob Mugabe sees nothing wrong, claiming the government is working hard to turn around the economy, while blaming “social media for spreading falsehoods that distort exchange rates and falsely inflame commodity shortages”.

Guess bitcoin will continue to soar whilst Bob buries his head in the sand.

I wonder if Didi and his family will move to Zimbabwe now?

[source:quartz]