Bitcoin’s popularity is soaring in South Africa where it is being viewed as a safe-haven from increasing political and economic uncertainty.
South Africa: Economic Uncertainty Boosts Bitcoin
The issue of land reform in South Africa has become a source of concern following the election of new president Cyril Ramaphosa last month. It remains a highly-politicized topic along racial lines even twenty years after apartheid ended.
Now Ramaphosa’s party, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), has vowed to change the constitution, allowing white-owned property to be taken without compensation and redistributed to blacks who do not own any farmland.
This promise has unnerved Goldman Sachs and, in particular, Moody’s, a global agency, which provides international financial research on bonds issued by commercial and government entities. Last Wednesday, the newly elected president reassured the economic ratings firm that such a move would not have a negative affect on South Africa’s economy.
“President Ramaphosa reaffirmed that accelerated land reform will unfold within a clear legal framework and without negatively affecting economic growth, agricultural production and food security,” the presidency said in a statement.
Adding to the concerns are other economic problems including a high unemployment rate of over 25%, the recent demise of the country’s VBS Mutual Bank amid a “severe liquidity crisis,” as well as the highest rate of economic crime (77%) in the world, according to PwC’s biennial Global Economic Crime Survey.
Full article:
http://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-south-africa-economic-turmoil/
