Crypto as a solution to Zimbabwe money problem

89’700’000’000’000’000’000’000 %. This was the year-on-year inflation rate in #Zimbabwe in 2008, leading the government to stop printing the currency the following year.

In June 2019 a new ZimDollar was launched, and by July 2020 the inflation rate was already at 737%.

Clearly, a state currency appears to be a difficult challenge for the country, and its leaders must think outside the box to find a viable solution. How about crypto?

The country’s finance minister Mthuli Ncube already called for “investing in and understanding Bitcoin”, as the country’s banks were imposing limits on cash withdrawal in a desperate try to stop the cash hemorrage. Nothing was done officially, although crypto adoption on a personal level keeps growing.

Now, after having visited a Dubai-based DMCC crypto center Mr Ncube tweeted that he “came across solutions that could lower charges for diaspora remittances”. With $90M paid annually in remittance fees, crypto can indeed save Zimbabweans a lot of hard-earned money.

It’s preoccupying though that Mr Ncube only got this idea after visiting Dubai, while numerous crypto startups are being developed back home in Zimbabwe. He should trust more in his own ?