On Friday, the central bank in Zambia made it clear that Bitcoin was not legal tender and if things go wrong for anyone dealing with cryptos; then tough luck… Why have taken this stance? Well, their version is they want to safeguard the interests of members of the public and to maintain the integrity of the financial system in Zambia. I’m sure I’ve heard that line elsewhere…
The central bank also brought up the often mentioned risks which include money laundering, terrorism (or at least the financing of terrorism) and hacking. The Zambian Government hasn’t outright banned cryptos though. According to Bitcoin.com, the Zambian government doesn’t have the power to push for an outright ban as that would result in the bank being liable for something outside its domain.
Aggressive tactics…
The fact that this isn’t a law in Zambia hasn’t stopped their central bank from going after companies involved with cryptos. The Bank of Zambia is reported investigating Heritage Coin Resources – a company which is accused of operating in the financial sector without a license. I’ll admit that at a glance the company looks dodgy and just going through their website doesn’t exactly give you an idea of what exactly it is that they do. It’s not clear if they are traders, consultants or what space they actually occupy and for me that’s a red flag.
Anyway, it seems Zambia has been taking some cues from Zimbabwe and other African countries. Zambia joins Nigeria and Kenya who have also denounced cryptos without an outright ban following. Zim, Morocco and Algeria on the more extreme end of the spectrum have gone for the outright ban.
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