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- Zimbabwe’s economy is currently facing a tough time as its national currency’s market value faces a steep downward trend.
- In the effort to stabilize the national economy, the government has decided to shut down all sorts of mobile payments, digital transactions and has stopped all the trading in the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had banned all the local transactions involving cryptocurrencies long ago
Zimbabwe’s economy is currently facing a tough time as its national currency’s market value faces a steep downward trend. Hence in the effort to stabilize the national economy, the government has decided to shut down all sorts of mobile payments, digital transactions and has stopped all the trading in the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. It also included the shutdown of the Ecocash, which had enabled the people of Zimbabwe to purchase Bitcoin.
Press Statement on the Suspension of Monetary Transactions on Phone Based Mobile Money Platforms pic.twitter.com/8FlJ4Lfqww
— Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (@ReserveBankZIM) June 27, 2020
The Citizens Mostly Relied On Mobile Payments
The Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa in response to the national crisis has assured the people that the government will deal with all malpractices that have hindered the government’s efforts in overcoming this huge crisis. Since getting physical cash in Zimbabwe is challenging, most of the citizens rely on the digital mode of payments. In the last few months, the mobile payments had almost accounted for 84.8% of all transaction volumes and 22.6%.
Bad News For The Tech Savvy Zimbabweans
Although the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had banned all the local transactions involving cryptocurrencies long ago, the adoption of P2P network trading had reached new heights with EcoCash being a major platform of Bitcoin transactions for the Zimbabweans. Many smart Zimbabweans have been using Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies to fill the prevailing liquidity gap.
The digital assets market is expanding and Zimbabwe has become the most active African country in terms of crypto transactions. Hence, the complete closure of the digital transactions is bad news for the tech-savvy people of Zimbabwe.
Ecocash Refuses To Comply With The Ban
However, the EcoCash platform has refused to comply with the currently imposed ban because only Zimbabwe’s Central Bank can only control its trade. One of Zimbabwe’s cryptocurrency news outlets has said that demand for Bitcoin has increased to a high extent and now a Bitcoin is selling above 18% of its current market price.
When the government banned the further use of cryptocurrencies in 2019, the Zimdollar was again introduced to the people. However, Zimdollar quickly deteriorated in its value. This will be the fifth time in the history of Zimbabwe when they are facing a national economic crisis. However, the downfall of Zimdollar has made the government abolish the fixed exchange rate system. This national issue taken to social media platforms like Twitter to express their anguish over government-imposed ban over mobile transactions.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
