175 Quadrillion Zimbabwean Dollars Now Equals 0.02164502 BTC

[chennan]

Most ppl there don't have facility to access bitcoin wallet and know nothing about bitcoin! Adopting reliable foreign currency seems a good option! Although the gov loses the control of the currency to balance their money marke, but it is better they have no chance to abuse their rights of printing mounting of cash for their own interests!

[cupscrypto]

They should just use gold and silver... you can flash very small amounts onto bills........ 

Why you would use the USD ... morons.  Well I guess it makes sense as their leaders are morons.

The USD is easily traded , no need to haggle over actual value.

Most ppl there don't have facility to access bitcoin wallet and know nothing about bitcoin! Adopting reliable foreign currency seems a good option! Although the gov loses the control of the currency to balance their money marke, but it is better they have no chance to abuse their rights of printing mounting of cash for their own interests!

+1

[SebastianJu]

175 Quadrillion Zimbabwean Dollars Now Equals $5

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabweans will start exchanging quadrillions of local dollars for a few U.S. dollars next week, as President Robert Mugabe's government discards its virtually worthless national currency.

Adopting the USD is also a bad idea for Zimbabwe though.  They will need to borrow in a currency that they don't control and isn't effected by their own economy.
They should have gold backed, or partially gold backed a new currency, or gone all in and adopted a cryptocurrency. 

I don't think bitcoin would be right for them, for the same reasons as the USD is a bad idea, but an internal Zimcoin could have worked, or been tried at least.

Gold backing a whole currency? I doubt thats possible for zimbabwe.

An actual cryptocurrency there would be really interesting. I wonder how miners would react, Zimbabwe could become rich since it would be a states currency. Thats interesting at least.

[spazzdla]

175 Quadrillion Zimbabwean Dollars Now Equals $5

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabweans will start exchanging quadrillions of local dollars for a few U.S. dollars next week, as President Robert Mugabe's government discards its virtually worthless national currency.

Adopting the USD is also a bad idea for Zimbabwe though.  They will need to borrow in a currency that they don't control and isn't effected by their own economy.
They should have gold backed, or partially gold backed a new currency, or gone all in and adopted a cryptocurrency. 

I don't think bitcoin would be right for them, for the same reasons as the USD is a bad idea, but an internal Zimcoin could have worked, or been tried at least.

Gold backing a whole currency? I doubt thats possible for zimbabwe.

An actual cryptocurrency there would be really interesting. I wonder how miners would react, Zimbabwe could become rich since it would be a states currency. Thats interesting at least.

Just use the metal.. you can easily make 1 cent bills via flashing gold or silver...

No one can print 100 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 OZ of silver.

THE USD HOWEVER...   You think the cops have armoured vehicals, assualt rilfes and have had their numbers explode because things are getting better for the merica ecom... oooh the writing is on the wall boys.

[bennybong]

When I was in Vietnam all I used was USD. Even ATMs dispensed USD (which I don't think is legal). It's a good tactic for most out there because conveniently everything you buy is rounded up to the nearest dollar. Can of coke? 1 Dollar. Crappy souvenirs? One dollar. Everything was priced in whole dollars. On the off-chance you  do get change - they give it to you in Vietnam Dong, which of course is far too hard to work out the exchange rate so you just take it. Same for Cambodia too.

[bryant.coleman]

They should just use gold and silver... you can flash very small amounts onto bills........ 
Why you would use the USD ... morons.  Well I guess it makes sense as their leaders are morons.

Zimbabwe doesn't produce any gold or silver, although they have a few diamond mines. And since they don't have the sort of funds to import bullion, using gold and silver as a currency is not practical. And regarding the leadership, Robert Mugabe was democratically elected, and he still commands a good deal of support among the general population.

[roadbits]

They have hyperinflation . so bad that they have to constantly redesign and reprint bills to meet the current needs. At one point they just said 'fuck it' and reprinted their bills with 8 fewer zeros so that they would look less ridiculous.

[spazzdla]

They should just use gold and silver... you can flash very small amounts onto bills........ 
Why you would use the USD ... morons.  Well I guess it makes sense as their leaders are morons.

Zimbabwe doesn't produce any gold or silver, although they have a few diamond mines. And since they don't have the sort of funds to import bullion, using gold and silver as a currency is not practical. And regarding the leadership, Robert Mugabe was democratically elected, and he still commands a good deal of support among the general population.

Democracy is a joke in 2015.

[doggieTattoo]

175 Quadrillion Zimbabwean Dollars Now Equals $5

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabweans will start exchanging quadrillions of local dollars for a few U.S. dollars next week, as President Robert Mugabe's government discards its virtually worthless national currency.

Adopting the USD is also a bad idea for Zimbabwe though.  They will need to borrow in a currency that they don't control and isn't effected by their own economy.
They should have gold backed, or partially gold backed a new currency, or gone all in and adopted a cryptocurrency. 

I don't think bitcoin would be right for them, for the same reasons as the USD is a bad idea, but an internal Zimcoin could have worked, or been tried at least.

Interesting. It indeed would've been great if they adopted a crypto-currency.
That way crypto currency gets the boost it needs and a difficult time for Zimbawe becomes an opportunity
to really come out with something new and, well, awesome.
Alas! Politics is something that can not be ignored in such matters.

[cupscrypto]

They should just use gold and silver... you can flash very small amounts onto bills........  
Why you would use the USD ... morons.  Well I guess it makes sense as their leaders are morons.

Zimbabwe doesn't produce any gold or silver, although they have a few diamond mines. And since they don't have the sort of funds to import bullion, using gold and silver as a currency is not practical. And regarding the leadership, Robert Mugabe was democratically elected, and he still commands a good deal of support among the general population.

Actually we do produce gold and silver, a lot of it. But it falls into the wrong hands and frankly, we don't have the proper systems and structures to monitor and control our resources. As a nation, we could learn a lot from western countries in the areas of management and resource control, but the bad politics on either end are hindering progress and cooperation.

Yes R.G was democratically elected, and commands maybe 65% approval.

[bryant.coleman]

Yes R.G was democratically elected, and commands maybe 65% approval.

This is really confusing. A 91-year old dictator enjoying close to 65% approval, despite wrecking the economy? It will be interesting to know the reasons why he still enjoys so much support from his citizens. Did he gave free land to the people (from the farmland which he confiscated from the white commercial farmers) ?

[kenbytes]

crazy Toilet papers must be more expensive. I bet the lower denominations aren't even worth the ink used to print them.

[TrianglePythagoras]

Hyperinflation is a bitch. Serves the greedy bastards right.

[cupscrypto]

Yes R.G was democratically elected, and commands maybe 65% approval.

This is really confusing. A 91-year old dictator enjoying close to 65% approval, despite wrecking the economy? It will be interesting to know the reasons why he still enjoys so much support from his citizens. Did he gave free land to the people (from the farmland which he confiscated from the white commercial farmers) ?

Well, glad you asked,  i'll try to be short and keep my opinions out of it.

Initially, when we got independence , the brits agreed to help us buy the land from the white minority. There was a change in government there and they abandoned the effort. On the local front , war veterans (who still commanded a lot of respect and military power) were becoming more insistent on getting resources , land and government benefits. As if that is already not a powder keg we participated in the DRC war at great expense.

The war vets started taking land violently before R.G could resolve the issues and so to avoid local unrest and maintain power, a hurried land reform programme was carried out. What R G and his party (ZANU PF) managed to do, is deliver on the promises that most african liberation struggles failed, he got the people land. Our entire war was based on this premise...land for the people. So this gave him not only local legitimacy, but regional as well.

Remember him speaking out against the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq? We were watching our leader speak in defense of smaller nations against the aggression of larger more powerful ones, he inspired the currently and next generation of African leaders (hence they elected him to be AU Chairman). He also spoke out about foreign countries forming opinions without real information and influencing others to follow their lead regardless of the truth. Western leaders and western values are different, and trying to impose those on us resulted in the general population becoming distrustful of them. R.G on the other hand is more worried about impressing his people, than the rest of the world.

As the economy slipped deeper into the abyss , and the pressure of western sanctions increased, we all witnessed the effects. He did not wreck the economy. Yes he could have handled things differently, and maybe we could have a different situation, but we do not blame him for the economy, we blame the west's sanctions. Even now, we feel their grip every time we try to work with the international community.

If the west had used and pursued diplomatic solutions only without the threats of military intervention and/or the sanctions, i doubt R G would still be in power. I guess what they did not anticipate was that rather than forcing regime change, their actions and attitude towards us made us support our leaders more....much like they did in Cuba, Iran and now Russia.

And please don't refer to it as free land, it's OUR land. And many of the white farmers who applied for land actually got some, i myself (once i get a job) want to apply for some. Many of my white friends' parents have farms and enjoy a peaceful life.

[cupscrypto]

crazy Toilet papers must be more expensive. I bet the lower denominations aren't even worth the ink used to print them.

It's a conciliatory move, more about the face of the action than economic relevance. It allows us to completely transition the last vestiges of ZWD to using foreign currency.

Hyperinflation is a bitch. Serves the greedy bastards right.

To whom do you refer as greed bastards?

[spazzdla]

Essentially the government of Zimbabwe scammed everyone who put wealth into their currency, they stole all the value and now that they can't squeeze anymore money out of it they've ended the scam for now. I bet once a significant amount of USD builds up in their economy they will mandate all citizens and businesses working in their country trade it in for new Zimbabwe currency.

This.  In 5-10 years they will force everyone to sell their USD for some new POS Zimbabwe currency.

[cupscrypto]

Essentially the government of Zimbabwe scammed everyone who put wealth into their currency, they stole all the value and now that they can't squeeze anymore money out of it they've ended the scam for now. I bet once a significant amount of USD builds up in their economy they will mandate all citizens and businesses working in their country trade it in for new Zimbabwe currency.

Yes, that is a way of looking at it. Though they likely won't be trying that anytime soon, and even when they do there would be low confidence and people would go back to home banking and the resistance against the move would be massive. Just check out last week's headline, they tried to forcibly remove vendors and were forced to back down after growing unrest threatened to blow out into full riots.

People have gotten used to the current status quo and are still very raw from what happened, hell even 10 years may not be enough for people to forget, come to think of it, the hardest hit by the past debacle will be the ones holding positions of considerable power in the country and will likely resist such a move unless we have successfully rebooted the economy and we have systems that will ensure it does not repeat itself.

[bennybong]

Yes R.G was democratically elected, and commands maybe 65% approval.

This is really confusing. A 91-year old dictator enjoying close to 65% approval, despite wrecking the economy? It will be interesting to know the reasons why he still enjoys so much support from his citizens. Did he gave free land to the people (from the farmland which he confiscated from the white commercial farmers) ?

Well, glad you asked,  i'll try to be short and keep my opinions out of it.

Initially, when we got independence , the brits agreed to help us buy the land from the white minority. There was a change in government there and they abandoned the effort. On the local front , war veterans (who still commanded a lot of respect and military power) were becoming more insistent on getting resources , land and government benefits. As if that is already not a powder keg we participated in the DRC war at great expense.

The war vets started taking land violently before R.G could resolve the issues and so to avoid local unrest and maintain power, a hurried land reform programme was carried out. What R G and his party (ZANU PF) managed to do, is deliver on the promises that most african liberation struggles failed, he got the people land. Our entire war was based on this premise...land for the people. So this gave him not only local legitimacy, but regional as well.

Remember him speaking out against the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq? We were watching our leader speak in defense of smaller nations against the aggression of larger more powerful ones, he inspired the currently and next generation of African leaders (hence they elected him to be AU Chairman). He also spoke out about foreign countries forming opinions without real information and influencing others to follow their lead regardless of the truth. Western leaders and western values are different, and trying to impose those on us resulted in the general population becoming distrustful of them. R.G on the other hand is more worried about impressing his people, than the rest of the world.

As the economy slipped deeper into the abyss , and the pressure of western sanctions increased, we all witnessed the effects. He did not wreck the economy. Yes he could have handled things differently, and maybe we could have a different situation, but we do not blame him for the economy, we blame the west's sanctions. Even now, we feel their grip every time we try to work with the international community.

If the west had used and pursued diplomatic solutions only without the threats of military intervention and/or the sanctions, i doubt R G would still be in power. I guess what they did not anticipate was that rather than forcing regime change, their actions and attitude towards us made us support our leaders more....much like they did in Cuba, Iran and now Russia.

And please don't refer to it as free land, it's OUR land. And many of the white farmers who applied for land actually got some, i myself (once i get a job) want to apply for some. Many of my white friends' parents have farms and enjoy a peaceful life.

It's cool to hear your perspective. One of my oldest friends is a Zimbabwean, boy does he have some stories to tell about his life growing up there.

His father was a very powerful man when he was young, he owned multiple gold and diamond mines and was close to RG and his cronies. He had servants and security guards, and a driving license when he was 11 years old. He witnessed their chef murder one of their security guards in front of the whole family when they were eating dinner, he stormed in and slit his throat in front of everyone! And he was executed the next day! He's seen one of his cousins get eaten by a crocodile! Needless to say his mother exiled him to the UK for reasons he would never, ever tell me. All I know is that he hated his father. Hell, he was actually left a diamond mine in his fathers will. He was his only son you see and wanted him to take care of his business. I will never know why he refused so much to accept it... But I have begun to understand why he wouldn't the more I learn about the country and its government. It ended up in the hands of RG, man how I tried to get him to do something about it before the government took it. "Just sell it!" I used to say.

His story has always fascinated me.

So far away from my upbringing and western lifestyle!

[leopard2]

OK summary: RM was democratically elected, then turned into a dictator.

Thousands of white, productive farmers were robbed and violently kicked out and are now productive in Sambia.

The land was handed over to corrupt cronies of the RM government, and the country and its industry is now 100% in black hands. Sort of like Greece but with Africans.

Result: highest inflation since the big bang.

I think this speaks for itself and this time, white people cannot be blamed, because they were not involved. 

[bryant.coleman]

Thousands of white, productive farmers were robbed and violently kicked out and are now productive in Sambia.

May be they should have reached a compromise on distributing the land. For example, the white farmers should give up 50% of their land to the state, and they get to own the remaining 50%. At that point of time, there were some 6,000 commercial farmers in Zimbabwe. Owning 50% of the farmland means, an average white farmer is left with 1,250 hectares (3,100 acres) of farmland. And the British government should have given compensation to the farmers to the land they give up, as they were the ones who confiscated that land earlier.