Category: Cryptocurrencies
RBZ needs your help with the development of a cryptocurrency. Just 33 questions
Remember a time when a number of cryptocurrency startups in Zimbabwe were banished from existence? And it was by the RBZ. Okay to be fair some of them were not as sound as anyone would have liked but the manner in which they were disbanded was pretty harsh. All the while in South Africa there […]
HIT is developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), are universities making currencies now?
Apparently, the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) is developing a central bank digital currency. HIT Vice Chancellor Dr Kanhukamwe revealed this at the graduation ceremony held at their campus a few days ago. This raises a lot of questions. We have covered what central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are and you will recall that they […]
The UN coaching govts on how to stifle cryptocurrencies makes me mad
You might not understand what the fuss about cryptocurrencies is all about. Or maybe you understand but find it all rather ridiculous. Either way, you have to concede they are not going anywhere any time soon. You might have to dip your toes into those waters at some point. Not if the United Nations has […]
The RBZ invites dialogue on coming digital currency (CBDC), you have to be a part of this
The Zimbabwean government is considering adopting a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has been researching this for a while now. If you thought they were joking you might want to think again. In the Mid-Term Monetary Policy Statement released on the 11th of August, the RBZ updated us on […]
Run with Bitcoin: Crypto evangelist stops by Zim on “40 countries in 400 days” world tour
Paco De La India is a Bitcoin enthusiast who has been travelling across the world with his Bitcoin wallet and spreading the gospel of the alternative currency on his Run with Bitcoin initiative. He recently stopped by Zimbabwe on a two-city tour which started in Bulawayo. “I have been traveling around the world over the […]
Fancy crypto (stablecoin) crash wipes over $40 billion value, used same principles that crashed Zimbabwe currencies
It’s human nature to broadcast anything that supports our convictions and gloss over everything that undermines them. We shout our victories and whisper our defeats. We sometimes attach our identities to our opinions, making it hard to change course later on, or at the very least seriously consider new information. Basketball fans will remember a […]
Blockchain startup Uhuru Wallet included in RBZ Fintech Sandbox
While the blockchain is often touted as a game-changing technology that is capable of disrupting traditional finance, it is yet to fulfil this promise. The race to satisfy this pledge is still on but numerous obstacles such as regulatory uncertainty are standing in the way. For different reasons, regulators in some parts of the world […]
Zim blockchain startups! This challenge could fast track you to the Seedstars International Ventures Fund
FT x Cardano Blockchain Challenge in association with Project Catalyst, Seedstars, and FT Talent by Financial Times has a mission to source ventures interested in leveraging the Cardano Blockchain platform & community and engage with ventures interested in building on Cardano. Throughout the program, the selected startups will get a chance to participate in a […]
Crypto startups, check out this US$1 million fund
Mercy Corps is launching a new Crypto for Good Fund of $1 million to test and support blockchain-based solutions for people who are currently low-income and/or unbanked. Up to 10 social enterprises will receive up to $100,000 in grant funding to test their pilot projects applying decentralized finance and blockchain technology to build financial inclusion […]
Crypto undermining power of the West to cripple economies through sanctions – Ukraine-Russia war shows
Cryptocurrency has had quite the journey in its young life. The most famous one, Bitcoin, was introduced in 2009 with a value of zero. Over the years that price has risen and fallen in dramatic fashion and as I write this it sits at just over $43,000. That would be an infinite percentage increase but […]
Blockchain startups! Check out this US$20K Africa-wide Bootcamp
DFS Lab and Stellar have announced that applications are open for our second Blockchain Bootcamp, designed to give early to mid-stage startups in Africa an opportunity to build on Stellar, an open-source blockchain network for financial services and products. The Bootcamp will culminate in a demo day where companies with the most promising solutions built on Stellar will be […]
Of the married couple that tried to ‘clean’ US$4.5 billion worth of stolen bitcoin
The conversation around cryptocurrencies is an interesting one. On the one hand, proponents will tell you crypto is the future, citing countries like El Salvador adopting bitcoin as legal tender as proof that it’s only a matter of time. Critics think cryptos are pyramid schemes where early adopters and miners are looking for pansies to […]
Botswana passes crypto bill, unlike Zim they want to stop the scams
The Parliament of Bostwana on Tuesday unanimously passed crypto legislation under The Virtual Asset Bill which will regulate cryptocurrencies and digital assets as reported by Bloomberg. According to Botswana’s Minister for Finance, Peggy Serame, the Virtual Asset Bill is there as an anti-money laundering (AML) measure with opposition lawmakers saying that if left unregulated the […]
Windows 11 on a phone. Dudes using cars to mine bitcoin! What the__?
There is a lot of cool stuff happening around the world and here I talk about some of that. There is no particular theme, just random stuff you might also find cool. Ya man, Jamaica pon di e-currency Whilst we drag our feet here in Zimbabwe, Jamaica will be rolling out its digital currency this […]
Entrepreneurs! Applications for the Africa Blockchain Incubation Program are open!
The Africa Blockchain Incubation Program is focused on grooming African Blockchain StartUps, to spark creativity and ideas implementation around Distributed Ledger Technologies, insufficiently present in the Local Innovation and Entrepreneurship Landscape of Egypt and Zimbabwe. Qualified candidates will be nurtured through a structured 4-Month course of Workshops, Training, Development, Mentor Sessions and Community Events, through […]
Zimbos were creating money on EcoCash, OneMoney and telecash using blockchain tech – RBZ governor. And more revelations
The RBZ governor, Dr John Panonetsa Mangudya sat down for an interview with Trevor Ncube. We talked about what was said in the first part of the interview here. Now, we continue with the story and get to the meat of the interview, in my opinion. I feel I must warn you that if you […]
Zimbocash now has mobile app and they also rolled out 2FA
Zimbocash, the company that is pushing to be Zimbabwe’s “sound money solution”, has finally launched a mobile application on Android. The launch of the app has taken a bit of time and was something that I thought might be a bit far off after the crypto went down last year because the team at Zimbocash […]
Zim govt looking at central bank digital currency, what is that and why won’t it fix our problems
For a brief period of time, it appeared the Zimbabwean govt was going to adopt cryptocurrencies into the economy and that had us salivating a little. They then yanked that rug from beneath our feet. Turns out they are looking at Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and those are infinitely less exciting for us. We […]
Zim has much in common with country which made bitcoin legal tender, so…
We thought the Zimbabwean government was looking at the possibility of adopting cryptocurrencies. They clarified their position, they most definitely are not. Instead, they are looking at central banking digital currencies. For a second there we got excited but we all kind of knew that wasn’t going to happen. The govt is not thinking about […]
The govt has a crypto adoption framework, but it isn’t using it
The Zim govt is reportedly looking at the possibility of adopting cryptos and blockchain technology according to The Sunday News. The revelation was made at the Computer Society of Zimbabwe ICT Summit in Victoria Falls this past week by Rtd Brigadier General, Charles Wekwete the Permanent Secretary and Head of e-government Technology Unit in the […]
Breaking down cryptos, potential regulation & opportunities in the Zimbabwean context
We held a Twitter Space breaking down a study that was done by The Zimbabwe Blockchain Technology Think Tank called “Towards Virtual Asset Regulation and Adoption of Blockchain Technology in Zimbabwe’s Context”. The think tank itself comprised of Hon Advocate Fortune Chasi, MP Dr Solomon Guramatunhu, MBChB, Opththamology Dr Immaculate Motsi-Omoijiade, PHD (she/her) Cryptocurrency Prosper […]
[Download] Towards Virtual Assets Regulation and Adoption of Blockchain Technologies in Zimbabwe’s Context
Cryptocurrencies and Zimbabwe have been water and oil since the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) banned traditional financial institutions from conducting business with crypto exchanges. Many have made the argument that cryptos and blockchain technology could be one of the solutions that could help Zimbabwe in its economic strife. We have advocated for the adoption […]
ZASH: Much ado about nothing
One Thursday morning in sunny October Zimbabweans woke up to find that the cryptocurrency that they had been stacking up by spamming links in WhatsApp groups had finally taken off and was now in orbit. In crypto-land we call it ‘to the moon’ and ZASH (the cryptocurrency for the ‘decentralised currency for Zimbabwe’) had made […]
Africa’s cryptocurrency economy grew by over 1200% in a year
According to a study by Chainalysis, Africa’s cryptocurrency economy grew by 1200% between July 2020 and June 2021. The value of transactions was estimated to be US$105.6 billion during that period. This makes Africa the third fastest-growing crypto-economy globally which is pretty surprising judging from regulators on the continent not unanimously welcoming alternative currencies with […]
Local startup AfriBlocks to co-host US-based blockchain summit
Local freelance startup and the first Zimbabwean startup to be selected for US-based incubator, Afriblocks, will be co-hosting the 2021 Black Blockchain Summit. The conference will be held over three days starting from the 24th of September in Washington DC (and beamed virtually). “We are excited to co-host such a major event. This summit is […]
ZimboCash looking into USSD, mobile app & eCommerce API
Last night, ZimboCash (ZASH) Head of Communications Philip Haslem held a Twitter Space to touch base and answer questions from those in attendance. The Space covered a number of points spanning from ZimboCash’s return, its relationship with the regulators, digital KYC to an API for eCommerce. So let’s break down all of what was said, […]
Prof. Mthuli Ncube continues to ignore local crypto startups
It might appear as if I am stalking Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube but some of the things he has said recently have been concerning. Last week Prof. Mthuli Ncube toured a Dubai Crypto Hub and tweeted that he had found a way to make remittances cheaper while there. Now, if you have been around Techzim […]
Mthuli Ncube’s tour of Dubai crypto hub shows govt isn’t aware of local startups
Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube yesterday put out a tweet saying he had visited the DMCC Crypto Centre in Dubai. If you have never heard the name DMCC before, the firm offers a number of services among them cryptographic blockchain, and distributed ledger technologies. I visited the DMCC CRYPTO CENTRE in Dubai, which is a […]
Enough with the crypto scams already, help prevent them
Another day, another “Zimbabweans lose millions of USD in a Ponzi scheme” headline. This time the relatively new cryptocurrency scam struck to the tune of over USD$5 million. What happened this time? Martin Mhlanga (the schemer) is sitting pretty somewhere after promising his victims fantastic returns on their investments and then failing to deliver. Mhlanga […]
Coinbase in a hacking scare as exchange sends emails in error
In an early article, I warned about how the ease of using wallets provided by crypto exchanges can lull you into a false sense of security. This is because it seems these days large scale crypto-heists targeting exchanges are on the rise. Users of the very popular platform Coinbase were recently reminded of this fact […]