Zimbabwe Minister signals CBDC interest amid Bitcoin adoption rumors

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Zimbabwe’s Information Minister has publicly dismissed ongoing rumors that the country is considering adopting cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin (BTC). On the contrary, Minister Monica Mutsvangwa made it clear that the government of Zimbabwe wants to experiment with a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Zimbabwe’s crypto adoption rumor was sparked based on numerous reports citing Charles Wekwete, permanent secretary in the president’s office, saying the government was in talks with private sector companies to help introduce crypto. – currency in the country.

Just a day after the reports, Mutsvangwa attended a cabinet briefing to dismiss allegations of ongoing crypto adoption:

“The government is keen to assure the nation that it is not planning to introduce another currency into the economy, as some sections of the media have reported. Our local currency is the Zimbabwean dollar (ZW $) and not the cryptocurrency. “

In addition, the minister clarified that the government of Zimbabwe was following in the footsteps of other countries by studying “the CBDC as opposed to cryptocurrencies, bitcoins or any form of derivatives”.

It is important to note that CBDCs are digital tokens issued by a government’s central bank. If launched in Zimbabwe, the digital tokens will be pegged to the Zimbabwean dollar and will have the monetary value of the local currency in real time.

Governments around the world are experimenting with retail and wholesale CBDCs to find cheaper cross-border payment alternatives while increasing their ability to track transactions to deter money laundering and other fraudulent activity.

Related: Ghana to Explore Offline Transactions for Next CBDC

CBDCs are now seen by many governments in Africa as a tool to accelerate their financial inclusion initiatives. More recently, Ghana joined the growing list of African countries that are currently experimenting with use cases of CBDC.

As Cointelegraph reported, the CBDC developed by the Bank of Ghana, the e-cedi, will support offline transactions. According to the bank’s head of fintech and innovation, Kwame Oppong, “the e-cedi would be able to be used in an offline environment thanks to certain smart cards.”

The Ghana CBDC’s offline transaction function aims to catalyze the adoption of the technology in regions that lack reliable access to electricity and internet connectivity.

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