Zimbabwe is Not Adopting Crypto As Legal Tender

Zimbabwe may see Cryptocurrencies getting categorized as an Asset Class.

On Monday, a report by Bulawayo24 surfaced which claimed that Zimbabwe is considering adopting digital assets as legal tender. Coin Crunch India had also reported it.

But the smoke was cleared on Wednesday.

Contrary to the previous report, Bulawayo24 published on Wednesday that the Government is not contemplating adopting Cryptocurrency as a legal tender.

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting also shared this news on its official Twitter handle.

After the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said Cryptocurrencies would not be adopted as a “local currency”. 

“Government would like to assure the nation that it is not considering introducing another currency in the economy as reported in some sections of the media. Our local currency is the Zimbabwe dollar, and not Cryptocurrency. Like most countries in the world, the Government of Zimbabwe, through its Financial Technology Group, is studying Central Banking Digital Currency as opposed to Cryptocurrencies, bitcoins or any form of derivatives”

Monica Mutsvangwa

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Mthuli Ncube has clearly mentioned that Cryptocurrency will not be used as a “currency” in Zimbabwe.

In September at the Zimbabwe Global Investor Road Show, Ncube had revealed that Zimbabwe will be classifying Cryptocurrencies as an Asset Class as it is unsuitable to be used as a currency given its volatility. The concerned authorities are going to research more on the industry to formulate the policy.

Many countries are looking to classify crypto as an Asset Class. In India too, it has been reported that the Government may do so.

What do you think is the right category/classification for cryptocurrencies?

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