African regulators warn cryptocurrencies may not be legitimate

[The Sceptical Chymist]

We had hyperinflation of about 80-100% per month, which is very crazy. That lasted for more than a decade.

Holy crap, that is indeed crazy.  I can't imagine having to live through that, even as a kid--but at least you got a taste of what it can be like when fiat fails.  For most of the rest of the world, it's an abstract concept they've only read about in textbooks or online (myself included).  And fear of hyperinflation is probably one of the driving factors of crypto adoption as of late.  Just look at Michael Saylor and listen to how he views bitcoin; he's right on the money with his desire to own bitcoin instead of holding cash.

While crypto is by no means perfect, there is no example of them plunging economies of entire african nations into poverty due to hyperinflation caused by centralized economic mismanagement.

Totally agree, and I don't know what the hell this negative sentiment is all about when there are blatant cases of government-issued currency falling to pieces right in Africa.  It's just bizarre to me that they would blast cryptocurrencies like that, but that seems to be what a few big governments are doing right now, even if that statement is being made by doing something as seemingly small as blocking Binance from operation and the like.  And meanwhile the money printing press goes brrrrrr.

[Flexystar]

I think the natural reaction is to find the african media's remarks on crypto puzzling. What does crypto being labeled "illegitimate" mean. Is it worse than existing corruption and hyperinflation african nations have already been plagued by. What if crypto's "illegitimacy" were a higher standard than conventional financial options.

In this era where many choose to oversimplify reality within harsh shades of black and white. There could be many different shades of grey. In contemplating news and current events, I hope most will choose not to be colorblind.

First of all, when you say Africa, Africa is not a country, rather it is a continent. You will have to be specific as to which country exactly in Africa has said that bitcoin is bad. There are countries there too that are not against the use of cryptocurrency and they are allowing their citizens to make use of it, and of course there are those of them that are against the use of cryptocurrency. For sure I have seen news of countries like Nigeria that banned cryptocurrency, but even at that, they were not able to stop their citizens, people still continued trading cryptocurrency there with the help of P2P. It never really bothered them at all.

Yeah make sense. There is whole lot of difference between Cape Town and Nigeria! Whether it is economic, demographic or regulation wise, the difference north to south as the countries reside. That's pity how two nations who could have shared the enhancement of economical backbone are now suffering in the backyard. One is dominated by the high valued dollar while the other is carrying pile of billions and still hungry for food. So definitely it's worth nothing and crypto won't help out.

[Lorence.xD]

African countries trying to blame bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and other things when in reality some of the countries out in the continent have corrupt leaders and politicians and most of them don't even care about their people except for Rwanda though, they are a utopia in that continent rife of corruption, mercenaries and Boko Haram.

[GeorgeJohn]

The reason why African nations and media do not like bitcoin or any crypto is the fact that their own people could use it and disregard their fiat, which makes it even more worthless. I am not saying that people should use fiat to give it some power but when a wheelbarrow full of money worths as much as maybe 100 bucks at best,

I don't think that should be the major reason while they dislike cryptocurrency, especially bitcoin, my opinion I viewed that may likely caused some countries to disregard crypto is because of politicians more especially government, because government are seeing crypto as a source whereby politicians will use for money laundry, because investing via crypto or buying crypto and hold is another method of politicians to can use to embezzle funds, so that's only factor I seen that maybe the reason while africans disregard bitcoin from my own perspective and couple with other countries.

[wiss19]

We had hyperinflation of about 80-100% per month, which is very crazy. That lasted for more than a decade.

Holy crap, that is indeed crazy.  I can't imagine having to live through that, even as a kid--but at least you got a taste of what it can be like when fiat fails.  For most of the rest of the world, it's an abstract concept they've only read about in textbooks or online (myself included).  And fear of hyperinflation is probably one of the driving factors of crypto adoption as of late.  Just look at Michael Saylor and listen to how he views bitcoin; he's right on the money with his desire to own bitcoin instead of holding cash.

I haven't really "lived" through it, but in my nation (not African) we had something similar a bit before I was born well into when I started school. My dad was making about 2000 per month salary a few years before I was born, and when I went to school he was making around 2 billion instead. That is less than 10 years in total, or just round it up and say it was 10 years, in 10 years his salary went from 2 thousand to 2 billion all together.

That is the hyperinflation that you live, and in that case weirdly enough the whole nation still did better than we are doing right now, not because that was a good period, it was a bad period, probably worst since second world war economically, and overall we are much much much better right now, yet the reason why we are doing better overall is that rich are way richer, like unimaginable richer whereas poor are poorer, that is the only reason.

[sapnu]

Considering crypto's achievements over the past years, I think it wouldn't matter anymore if it is legal or not. In our experiences, we can already see how proper crypto is and Africa is not a country you can depend on with regards to critcizing stuffs. Their economy is not doing well and I think crypto is not much patronized over there too. There will always be people and country that will claim crypto is not real or sort of fraud but we know in ourselves how helpful and how legitimate it has been over the past years of its existence.

[pixie85]

We all know that the legit money is the money that can be printed and then taken away like it happened with money stored in Cyprus.

We are living in a fake world where some people tell us that we have to use their digital money and not your own because the law they made says so. The same law gives them right to put you in jail for issuing your own money and gives them the right to take their money from you because it was always their money. You just were allowed to hold it for a while.

[Shenzou]

The countries that ban crypto are doing not because they think its bad in a legit way, they just ban it because it gives freedom to the people, and they cannot control it as they have no authority over who sends or how much he sends,  and i am pretty sure that just want to hold control over the people so they don't lake the change, because bitcoin is not just about the money its about a concept of fighting the corruption that has been going on for decades and that is why they ban it.

[AndySt]

The reason why African nations and media do not like bitcoin or any crypto is the fact that their own people could use it and disregard their fiat, which makes it even more worthless. I am not saying that people should use fiat to give it some power but when a wheelbarrow full of money worths as much as maybe 100 bucks at best,

I don't think that should be the major reason while they dislike cryptocurrency, especially bitcoin, my opinion I viewed that may likely caused some countries to disregard crypto is because of politicians more especially government, because government are seeing crypto as a source whereby politicians will use for money laundry, because investing via crypto or buying crypto and hold is another method of politicians to can use to embezzle funds, so that's only factor I seen that maybe the reason while africans disregard bitcoin from my own perspective and couple with other countries.

Ignoring cryptocurrencies by states or mass media is not the worst thing, it is much worse when it comes to bans on exposing cryptocurrencies only in a negative light. Undoubtedly, cryptocurrencies have their own disadvantages and features that may not suit the state authorities of any state, including less control over the turnover than for fiat currencies, but this is not a reason for the introduction of total bans. You just need to decide what bitcoin is considered and how it is regulated in each individual country and, starting from this, monitor compliance with the rules of the game. Undoubtedly, cryptocurrencies, and in particular bitcoin, if used correctly, can benefit both citizens and the entire economy of the state.

[zanezane]

We are living in a fake world where some people tell us that we have to use their digital money and not your own because the law they made says so. The same law gives them right to put you in jail for issuing your own money and gives them the right to take their money from you because it was always their money. You just were allowed to hold it for a while.

If you want to make your own money, just do it. What's stopping you from doing so? Aren't we living in a fake world, right? You know the reason why we can't make our own money? Because it will be subjective and not everyone will consider it to have a value, you don't have the authority or influence to do so.

[ultrloa]

The reason why African nations and media do not like bitcoin or any crypto is the fact that their own people could use it and disregard their fiat, which makes it even more worthless. I am not saying that people should use fiat to give it some power but when a wheelbarrow full of money worths as much as maybe 100 bucks at best,

I don't think that should be the major reason while they dislike cryptocurrency, especially bitcoin, my opinion I viewed that may likely caused some countries to disregard crypto is because of politicians more especially government, because government are seeing crypto as a source whereby politicians will use for money laundry, because investing via crypto or buying crypto and hold is another method of politicians to can use to embezzle funds, so that's only factor I seen that maybe the reason while africans disregard bitcoin from my own perspective and couple with other countries.

Ignoring cryptocurrencies by states or mass media is not the worst thing, it is much worse when it comes to bans on exposing cryptocurrencies only in a negative light. Undoubtedly, cryptocurrencies have their own disadvantages and features that may not suit the state authorities of any state, including less control over the turnover than for fiat currencies, but this is not a reason for the introduction of total bans. You just need to decide what bitcoin is considered and how it is regulated in each individual country and, starting from this, monitor compliance with the rules of the game. Undoubtedly, cryptocurrencies, and in particular bitcoin, if used correctly, can benefit both citizens and the entire economy of the state.

Its not really the worst thing as there are so many worst thing than that but I can't blame the government to warn about cryptocurrencies  since there are so many MLM scams happen in their country and those scammers target the poor guys who want to earn money and just using the word cryptocurrency  just to make people believe that they  are in cool business. Maybe this is just a warning and they will not totally ban crypto since in  other hand for sure they can see the opportunity can possibly give to their citizens.

[kryptqnick]

I think it's no wonder that cryptos seem very popular in Africa. They offer a chance of having something decent and something that doesn't lose value as fast as their fiat. Crypto businesses also create jobs, which is very good for the economy. But of course the corrupt elites who steal the wealth from their people are against cryptos because stealing will be harder if the currency is not under their control and a wallet can be accessed from any location. There's also high risk of being scammed by ICOs and other projects, of course, but I don't think that overall impact of the crypto industry is negative in Africa, so it's unfair to make statements like this.

[AicecreaME]

African regulators have reasons why they told such thing. There are several possibilities I can think of. One of it is because they are ignorant and close-minded. Some people don't really like to learn and discover new things. Hence, when they are introduced to a whole new level of knowledge about something, they tend to push the opportunity away. Few government officials think this way - they see the current system that we have is enough for the what the people need. Which is why some countries make policies prohibiting bitcoin in their country. They don't want their people to use it because they think it's harmful, without even validating their gut feel.

Second reason I can think of is they want to take control. Government is known to take over the country. They are the ones planning and making the decision for their constituents' welfare. However, their intention isn't always as pure as we perceive it to be. Few government officials want to manipulate the livelihood of the citizens and even the knowledge they will receive. By those means, the probability of making a fool out of the people when the time they needed it the most (election period) will be high. If they will introduce crypto, they would think that the people will be another step closer to financial freedom. Which means that the citizens will not be dependent on them. Resulting to weaker leverage because the people aren't dependent on them anymore.

Lastly, I think the government is just playing safe. There are many bad rumors circulating on different platforms about cryptoccurrency. Because of those things, they would rather not risk another set of troubles in case there would be many schemes and scams that will be recorded if they will allow cryptocurrency. Instead of allowing it, they would opt not to since it could just add to the problems that they will attend to.

[avikz]

Well, let's not generalize Africa. It's not a country, rather it's a continent. South Africa is an African country who are friendly towards crypto. There are definitely some countries shown negative attitude towards crypto, but that does not define Africa as a whole. I know Zimbabwe is facing hyperinflation, but crypto isn't going to help there as it didn't do for Venezuela.

It's all about mindset. Most of the African countries are poor today because of European expansionist mentality. It wouldn't be incorrect to say that Europe's extreme wealth is mainly stolen from Africa and India. Then their fascist rulers made it even worse.

[beerlover]

Its not really the worst thing as there are so many worst thing than that but I can't blame the government to warn about cryptocurrencies  since there are so many MLM scams happen in their country and those scammers target the poor guys who want to earn money and just using the word cryptocurrency  just to make people believe that they  are in cool business. Maybe this is just a warning and they will not totally ban crypto since in  other hand for sure they can see the opportunity can possibly give to their citizens.

If you have people in your nation that understands crypto very well then the government should be taking some of them as advisors so that they could help their governments understand what crypto is all about.

If the government thinks that it is some sort of MLM type of deal then they do not know what crypto is and they are making a decision based on something they are not even sure about. That is the reason why nations like Nigeria cannot take the 100% benefit of crypto when they would be the ones that could make the most profit out of it as well.

Think about it, if someone explained to Nigerian government that people could use crypto to earn money from other nations, work for crypto cheaper than other nations, earn a ton of money, help the poverty ridden nation to grow bigger, and all those people paying taxes to help the nation as well, this is beneficial for the whole freaking nation. But government do not see that unfortunately.

[Argoo]

The reason why African nations and media do not like bitcoin or any crypto is the fact that their own people could use it and disregard their fiat, which makes it even more worthless. I am not saying that people should use fiat to give it some power but when a wheelbarrow full of money worths as much as maybe 100 bucks at best,

I don't think that should be the major reason while they dislike cryptocurrency, especially bitcoin, my opinion I viewed that may likely caused some countries to disregard crypto is because of politicians more especially government, because government are seeing crypto as a source whereby politicians will use for money laundry, because investing via crypto or buying crypto and hold is another method of politicians to can use to embezzle funds, so that's only factor I seen that maybe the reason while africans disregard bitcoin from my own perspective and couple with other countries.

Ignoring cryptocurrencies by states or mass media is not the worst thing, it is much worse when it comes to bans on exposing cryptocurrencies only in a negative light. Undoubtedly, cryptocurrencies have their own disadvantages and features that may not suit the state authorities of any state, including less control over the turnover than for fiat currencies, but this is not a reason for the introduction of total bans. You just need to decide what bitcoin is considered and how it is regulated in each individual country and, starting from this, monitor compliance with the rules of the game. Undoubtedly, cryptocurrencies, and in particular bitcoin, if used correctly, can benefit both citizens and the entire economy of the state.

Negative statements about cryptocurrency will periodically appear on the part of states and their various bodies, and this should be treated more calmly. In general, cryptocurrency as an alternative means of payment, not subject to inflation, will always irritate governments. Therefore, it can legalize cryptocurrency, but it is unlikely to actively support it. We need to pay attention to specific facts, not general negative statements about cryptocurrency. They will appear periodically, and the cryptocurrency, despite this, will need to develop and grow all the same.

[Silberman]

The reason why African nations and media do not like bitcoin or any crypto is the fact that their own people could use it and disregard their fiat, which makes it even more worthless. I am not saying that people should use fiat to give it some power but when a wheelbarrow full of money worths as much as maybe 100 bucks at best, and you leave and start using crypto, that means the fiat that is already worthless will become even more worthless. That Zimbabwe dollar thing is just one place and I do not know what their situation is like now but in places like Nigeria or South Africa the problem is not "that" bad, they are still not leading economies of the world obviously but they are doing fine.

However if you leave fiat and move to crypto only that means those nations which are not "that" bad could become like Zimbabwe as well. So should people live a worse life and wait for politicians to fix things? No of course not, go with crypto and screw fiat, but also understand that governments will not be kind to you as well.

This is important, we need to understand that politicians do not really care about the people they govern, they care about maintaining their positions of power, at best they could help the people not out of a desire to do so but just as a way to gain popular support, this means that we need to look for our own interests as well, politicians do not want people to abandon fiat as fiat gives them power, but we should not care about this and think about which option gives power to us, and between fiat and bitcoin the decision about which one to pick should be easy.

[ultrloa]

The reason why African nations and media do not like bitcoin or any crypto is the fact that their own people could use it and disregard their fiat, which makes it even more worthless. I am not saying that people should use fiat to give it some power but when a wheelbarrow full of money worths as much as maybe 100 bucks at best, and you leave and start using crypto, that means the fiat that is already worthless will become even more worthless. That Zimbabwe dollar thing is just one place and I do not know what their situation is like now but in places like Nigeria or South Africa the problem is not "that" bad, they are still not leading economies of the world obviously but they are doing fine.

However if you leave fiat and move to crypto only that means those nations which are not "that" bad could become like Zimbabwe as well. So should people live a worse life and wait for politicians to fix things? No of course not, go with crypto and screw fiat, but also understand that governments will not be kind to you as well.

This is important, we need to understand that politicians do not really care about the people they govern, they care about maintaining their positions of power, at best they could help the people not out of a desire to do so but just as a way to gain popular support, this means that we need to look for our own interests as well, politicians do not want people to abandon fiat as fiat gives them power, but we should not care about this and think about which option gives power to us, and between fiat and bitcoin the decision about which one to pick should be easy.

Well we have rights to vote so if we can see a politician who didn't do their job then it's time for us to eliminate on election Day. We must not tolerate what they do since if they will remain on their set for sure there will be no progress happen on our country. Also for sure they don't want to abandon fiat but I also think they will always go with the flow and go with something's if they can find beneficial to them but for now they can't see it on cryptocurrency since they can't find ways to corrupt it.

[Kittygalore]

Well, let's not generalize Africa. It's not a country, rather it's a continent. South Africa is an African country who are friendly towards crypto. There are definitely some countries shown negative attitude towards crypto, but that does not define Africa as a whole. I know Zimbabwe is facing hyperinflation, but crypto isn't going to help there as it didn't do for Venezuela.

It's all about mindset. Most of the African countries are poor today because of European expansionist mentality. It wouldn't be incorrect to say that Europe's extreme wealth is mainly stolen from Africa and India. Then their fascist rulers made it even worse.

I don't think that European's expansionist mentality is the only reason why some of the countries in Africa are among the poorest, I think a bigger reason than Africa's past is it's variety of tribes and I think that sometimes it's one the biggest reasons for many civil wars and genocides in the continent, if you are from a different tribe then you are being discriminated. Bitcoin can help the continent but they have to first realize that no matter how different their tribes are, they are still the same people of one country.

[Silberman]

The reason why African nations and media do not like bitcoin or any crypto is the fact that their own people could use it and disregard their fiat, which makes it even more worthless. I am not saying that people should use fiat to give it some power but when a wheelbarrow full of money worths as much as maybe 100 bucks at best, and you leave and start using crypto, that means the fiat that is already worthless will become even more worthless. That Zimbabwe dollar thing is just one place and I do not know what their situation is like now but in places like Nigeria or South Africa the problem is not "that" bad, they are still not leading economies of the world obviously but they are doing fine.

However if you leave fiat and move to crypto only that means those nations which are not "that" bad could become like Zimbabwe as well. So should people live a worse life and wait for politicians to fix things? No of course not, go with crypto and screw fiat, but also understand that governments will not be kind to you as well.

This is important, we need to understand that politicians do not really care about the people they govern, they care about maintaining their positions of power, at best they could help the people not out of a desire to do so but just as a way to gain popular support, this means that we need to look for our own interests as well, politicians do not want people to abandon fiat as fiat gives them power, but we should not care about this and think about which option gives power to us, and between fiat and bitcoin the decision about which one to pick should be easy.

Well we have rights to vote so if we can see a politician who didn't do their job then it's time for us to eliminate on election Day. We must not tolerate what they do since if they will remain on their set for sure there will be no progress happen on our country. Also for sure they don't want to abandon fiat but I also think they will always go with the flow and go with something's if they can find beneficial to them but for now they can't see it on cryptocurrency since they can't find ways to corrupt it.

While voting for politicians willing to support bitcoin seems like a good idea the truth is that the number of those politicians is quite low and then we need to remember that while there are countries with a strong democratic tradition and that have used this medium to select those that will have the power for centuries there are many countries in which this is not the case and corruption and fraud still run rampant and as such this option is not really available to the people of those countries.