[2019-09-07] Bitcoin Trading is now Banned in Burundi

[nulltxmark]

Not a day goes by without some intriguing development affecting the cryptocurrency industry. African nations are often relatively quiet on this front. Although Bitcoin can make a positive impact across that continent, not all governments want to give it a fair chance. That is unfortunate, but also completely to be expected.

Burundi Doesn’t Want Crypto

It is rather interesting to see how governments still oppose Bitcoin and similar currencies in 2019. While crypto doesn’t have the best reputation by any means, completely banning the trading of it will only have an adverse effect. In Burundi, the government has officially banned all cryptocurrency trading this week, albeit it remains to be seen if that countermeasure will prove to be even remotely successful.

This decision comes after some people in the country lost money while trading the various cryptocurrencies. There is no word on which currencies they were, or if the people invested in fraudulent offerings. Even so, the public demand for governmental intervention, and their decision is to get rid of all trading indefinitely. Not a popular decision, but it was somewhat to be expected.

Read More: Cryptocurrency trading banned in burundi

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[gentlemand]

Can't find the link in that article confirming it but 9.7 times out of 10 when a country 'bans' Bitcoin it's telling its banks they can't trade in it or offer it for sale - which no bank on the entire planet does as far as I know.

[hugeblack]

It's not that they don't want cryptocurrencies but legislation to protect consumers.
It was preceded by a warning that transactions should be conducted through institutions licensed by the Central Bank.

Nyobewumusi further stated, “strong measures” will be taken against those that do not follow the law

Also, this phrase is loose and if a law is enacted, clear penalties must be applied.

Overall, Africa does not have clear rules on the acceptance or prohibition of cryptocurrencies.

[Lucius]

It may seem like a drastic measure, but if people are not aware what cryptocurrency really represents, and what risks are involved in trading / investing, then some countries need to react like this. Nothing is final, so this decision may change over time. Those who still want to trade with crypto will find a way to do this despite the ban on trading in the domestic market.

I do not agree that this decision will affect other countries in Africa, although many view Africa from some unique angle, each country conducts its own policy toward cryptocurrency.

[davis196]

Damn,this is a tragedy.What are we going to do without Burundi?This is such an irreplaceable country for the entire crypto world.
What about other countries like Somalia,Mozambique and Tanzania?I'm sure that millions of bitcoin users and crypto whales live there.
Joke aside,it's sad that poor underdeveloped countries refuse to adopt such a disruptive technology.

[gentlemand]

Joke aside,it's sad that poor underdeveloped countries refuse to adopt such a disruptive technology.

Places like that will be massively under the thumb of international banking even though they deny the average inhabitant any meaningful access to the wider world of money.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if one of these places decided to go balls out towards an alternative system of finance. It's not as if the present system has done them many favours.

[snipie]

Small countries in term of economic weight, are making the usage of cryptocurrencies difficult for their citizens legally. However most people in these countries don't know what crypto is...and for sure aren't aware of the existence of crypto services if ever were present...
People in these countries are just owning cryptocurrencies online, holding it then trading it online also without passing by any stupid services in their countries.

[cr1776]

Trading vs using vs holding for investment purposes vs development vs ... .

At least (assuming the article is accurate which is often doubtful) they are leaving several options available.  Not that it really matters to the world at large, but probably really matters to their citizens.

[Das]

I can assure you that the ban won't last.
Crypto enthusiasts in Burundi will find a way around it... Now that we have tor browser and other VPN-hiding sites out there.

[bL4nkcode]

I can assure you that the ban won't last.
Crypto enthusiasts in Burundi will find a way around it... Now that we have tor browser and other VPN-hiding sites out there.

It might last but that won't stop those traders or crypto users to access the internet and still follow and use bitcoin/crypto for every transaction they made on the internet in that country.

This decision comes after some people in the country lost money while trading the various cryptocurrencies. There is no word on which currencies they were, or if the people invested in fraudulent offerings. Even so, the public demand for governmental intervention, and their decision is to get rid of all trading indefinitely. Not a popular decision, but it was somewhat to be expected.

Instead of banning, the government should let its people know the risk of using crypto, guide them on how to protect their crypto-asset or the safety/savings like what they do here in my country.

[figmentofmyass]

Can't find the link in that article confirming it but 9.7 times out of 10 when a country 'bans' Bitcoin it's telling its banks they can't trade in it or offer it for sale - which no bank on the entire planet does as far as I know.

details are scant. this is from bloomberg: Burundi Bans Trading of Digital Currencies

it sounds like it was a knee jerk reaction to consumer/investor protection complaints from residents.

Burundi banned all trading of cryptocurrencies on its soil, saying it couldn’t offer digital money users protection in case of problems.

Some Burundians lost money while trading virtual currencies and asked the government to intervene, according to Alfred Nyobewumusi, a director at the central bank’s micro-finance department. Digital coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are now illegal in the country, he said.

“Strong measures could be taken against all those who will not respect this decision,” he said in an interview in Bujumbura, Burundi’s economic capital.

[1Referee]

Instead of banning, the government should let its people know the risk of using crypto, guide them on how to protect their crypto-asset or the safety/savings like what they do here in my country.

I don't think we have seen any government thus far do that aside from the known 'be careful with crypto because it's a high risk asset class' type of warning.

These type of events are great for the local peer to peer market because what else will incentivize people to follow that route? If people are being treated nicely by centralized exchanges and governments don't really make a point out of it, then what incentive is there for them to go peer to peer? In these cases governments are helping the crypto ecosystem in general to become more distributed. Not bad.

[pixie85]

Can't find the link in that article confirming it but 9.7 times out of 10 when a country 'bans' Bitcoin it's telling its banks they can't trade in it or offer it for sale - which no bank on the entire planet does as far as I know.

details are scant. this is from bloomberg: Burundi Bans Trading of Digital Currencies

it sounds like it was a knee jerk reaction to consumer/investor protection complaints from residents.

Burundi banned all trading of cryptocurrencies on its soil, saying it couldn’t offer digital money users protection in case of problems.

Some Burundians lost money while trading virtual currencies and asked the government to intervene, according to Alfred Nyobewumusi, a director at the central bank’s micro-finance department. Digital coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are now illegal in the country, he said.

“Strong measures could be taken against all those who will not respect this decision,” he said in an interview in Bujumbura, Burundi’s economic capital.

As always great move by the government and the people who complained. They bought rotten eggs and got scammed so they went crying to the government to ban egg trading in general so they won't be able to get scammed again. What a bunch of idiots.

On the positive side there's only 10 million people living there and at least a third of them has no internet access. They couldn't care less.

[hatshepsut93]

It's almost a pattern already that poor and underdeveloped countries are the quickest to ban crypto - I wonder why? Do they feel threatened the most, or is it just lack of competences from the government?

These type of events are great for the local peer to peer market because what else will incentivize people to follow that route? If people are being treated nicely by centralized exchanges and governments don't really make a point out of it, then what incentive is there for them to go peer to peer? In these cases governments are helping the crypto ecosystem in general to become more distributed. Not bad.

If cryptocurrencies are fully outlawed, there's nothing great for any market, because why would people risk going to jail or paying a huge fine over simply trading? They would just go back to trading stocks and other instruments, and those who want just a store of value will buy gold or the US dollar.

[DooMAD]

It's almost a pattern already that poor and underdeveloped countries are the quickest to ban crypto - I wonder why? Do they feel threatened the most, or is it just lack of competences from the government?

Those governments feeling the most insecure can't be very confident in their grip on power, I guess.  If you want to control the people, it helps to be in control of their money.  As someone on the outside, looking in, it would appear they can't see Bitcoin providing any benefit to their (seemingly oppressive) regime, so instinctively seek to limit its use.  Seems like restricting freedom is a natural reaction for places with such well documented human rights violations.

[malevolent]

It's almost a pattern already that poor and underdeveloped countries are the quickest to ban crypto - I wonder why? Do they feel threatened the most, or is it just lack of competences from the government?

These countries are more likely to be authoritarian, it's easier to make such abrupt and rash decisions when there aren't as many checks and balances as there are to be found in most developed democracies.

[bbc.reporter]

Regulating the cryptospace will be a new type of crisis for 3rd world countries. It is easy to search for the tools needed to hide your online activities hehe.

In any case, what are that popular ways to move in Africa outside the banking system and through text messaging?

[Vishnu.Reang]

I don't expect the third world nations such as Burundi to legalize Bitcoin, until all of the developed nations does that. And Bitcoin is still not 100% legal in some of the developed nations. It will not happen overnight. We need to remain patient and do whatever we can, to assert pressure on the law makers.

[Naida_BR]

I don't even know if there is people in Burundi who use Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies.
It is not a big hurt for the crypto industry. If other big countries such as USA, Russia, China etc will start using cryptocurrencies then Burundi is going to revert its decision.

[Kakmakr]

Why is this a surprise? Burundi is known as the hungriest nation on earth. The whole country has a population of about 10,86 million people, so it is just a very small country with a corrupt government. The main activity in Burundi is agriculture and they are constantly fighting over land. 

So, if countries and governments cannot see or do not want to see how a global currency can create more jobs and how a currency like this can help them, then they will just continue to be a struggling 3rd world country.   

Teach somebody to fish, but if they are too lazy to fish, they will die of hunger.