RBZ directive for banks to end their relationship with cryptocurrency exchanges in May 2018 turned on a panic mode in the market. Many investors tried to cash out their investment or transfer their digital assets to private wallets, but before the end of the given 60 days RBZ went on to ban the exchanges and freeze their bank accounts. Despite winning a court case by a local exchange, Banks are still holding on to investors money making trading impossible.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world and millions of people trade thousands of other digital tokens daily. The largest exchange by volume is Binance which has a daily trading volume of $2 Billion from more than 5 million registered users, making about $3 million in profit per day. This is an exchange that was founded less than a year ago!
It's not the first time a government or central bank has banned a cryptocurrency exchange but it seems no one can successfully ban its trading since its not centrally controlled and transactions can not be easily tracked. China was one of the first countries to ban cryptocurrency and blockchain projects, and had to control its social media platforms like Weibo to stop showing cryptocurrency related ads. However, Chinese investors still trade cryptocurrency in overseas markets using VPN, peer to peer trading and over-the-counter trade.
Zimbabwean largest exchange Golix had a monthly trading volume of $1 million according to techzim blog from 50 000 registered users according to newsday. Many of these investors were buying Bitcoin for trade, savings (many people no longer have confidence in banks and surrogate currency), remittances, trading tokens on international exchanges, purchasing ex-Japanese cars among other uses. It was a major source of income for many investors.
What's next for Cryptocurrency investors/users/traders in Zimbabwe?
Many people still want to use cryptocurrency to import Japanese cars since forex shortages still exist in Zimbabwe, trade tokens and coins on international exchanges and invest their income. There are other options to buy cryptocurrency although there are few options to cash out the investment (we will look at this in other posts)
One can buy Bitcoin or Ethereum through
1. A pre-funded MasterCard
2. Skrill or Paypal
3. Peer to peer trading
However, one needs to be careful when buying from an individual and use of escrow services is recommended.
