Bitcoin as Zimbabwe's official currency + Prince of Sealand interest in bitcoin

caveden

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Quote from: countryfree on April 30, 2013, 06:20:20 PM

I'm afraid bitcoin is too high tech for Zimbabwe. A scheme like M-Pesa is much better since it works with text messages. We should also consider that many transactions seen as important there, will be seen as dust in America or Europe.

Coinapult SMS Wallet is to Bitcoin what M-Pesa is to whatever fiat currency they transfer.
The problem with coinapult is that their sms wallet is only available in Canada+USA, two countries that don't really need it.
If somebody with good connections with mobile operators in these poorer countries builds something equivalent, there's a chance it'll take of. Actually, M-Pesa itself should seriously consider adding a bitcoin wallet option.

countryfree

legendary

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Your country may be your worst enemy

I'm afraid bitcoin is too high tech for Zimbabwe. A scheme like M-Pesa is much better since it works with text messages. We should also consider that many transactions seen as important there, will be seen as dust in America or Europe.

virtualmaster

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Africans are interested in bitcoin:
http://2feetafrica.com/2013/04/5-african-countries-to-install-bitcoin-atm/

WilderedB

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As an official REPLACEMENT currency, no. Not least because they don't have one and are using USD at the moment.

However for anyone in Zimbabwe it makes huge sense to use BTC when possible, and certainly makes sense to accept them as payment.

If it does take off over there I see a great opportunity for selling cheap Android smartphones from China...

AC

farlack

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Quote from: Bitcoinpro on April 17, 2013, 07:41:43 AM

Quote from: tysat on April 17, 2013, 07:26:26 AM

Until I read news like this at a website that doesn't have "bitcoin" in it's name, I'm not going to believe anything like this.

Zimbabwe dosn't have a currency it collapsed they use euro usd etc, bitcoin is a global currency its has official status everywhere

If that, they all trade in gold flakes.

Zimbabwe would be the worst thing for bitcoin, most live out in the motherfuckin boonies and probably have only seen a 1995 computer in some store that's a 5 month walk to get to.

Yes, I'm saying Zimbabwe is to poor for us to want them to be the first country to adopt bitcoin.

virtualmaster

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http://www.newzimbabwe.com/opinion-10878-Virtual+currency+in+the+digital+economy/opinion.aspx

Hei_

newbie

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im nativ. lemme pass to zimbabwe

nameface

sr. member

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Quote from: antimattercrusader on April 18, 2013, 10:19:38 AM

Quote from: Come-from-Beyond on April 17, 2013, 02:06:52 PM

Zimbabwe can launch their own coin with centralized control. Why do they need Bitcoin?

Farming this out to a decentralized uncontrollable base like bitcoin could work, imo.

+1
However, without a robust distributed infrastructure for instant digital currency conversion this becomes a massive clusterfuck whenever they see significant BTC price action. IOW, I don't think you can denominate 100% of a nation's money supply in bitcoins, even in the case of a banana republic. It's way too risky, there's too much price instability. But they could use the shit out of bitcoins and gain a great deal imho.

antimattercrusader

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Quote from: Come-from-Beyond on April 17, 2013, 02:06:52 PM

Zimbabwe can launch their own coin with centralized control. Why do they need Bitcoin?

While I doubt this article is true, I can see a use for bitcoin in a nation (like Zimbabwe) where corruption and mismanagement in government has repeatedly proven that they cannot be trusted with the nation's currency. Farming this out to a decentralized uncontrollable base like bitcoin could work, imo. It would force fiscal responsibility, and while I recognize a deflationary economy may have it's theoretical disadvantages (as mentioned earlier), I think it is better than the alternative of hyper inflation even from a conventional sense. When you think of it from a non-conventional sense, like a shift away from debt based economy, it makes even more sense. But... we have let to see if that is viable in a modern world.

I think it is.

nameface

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If this piece was better written I would've assumed it was scraped off The Onion... Grin

jago25_98

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Crypto Geek

Quote from: Brushan on April 17, 2013, 09:24:35 AM

Quote from: Operatr on April 17, 2013, 08:32:54 AM

Bitcoin has never been tried at such a wide scale in a single country, this is probably bupkiss though given their hyperinflation problems making their existing money absolutely worthless I could see this happening in some country sometime soon.

Why is deflationary a bad thing? Is it bad your money continues to appreciate in value over time instead of losing it like the Euro of Dollar never to recover their spending power? People need to disconnect fiat currency from crypto-currencies, they do not work the same and cannot be compared in an economic way. Bitcoin's deflationary nature ensure hyperinflation never occurs which I think has been proven to be infinitely worse for an economy.

Well let's say a corn farmer in Zimbabwe gets paid 10 BTC a month. To be able to to pay him 10 BTC a month the owner has to sell 1 kg of corn for 1 BTC. Let's say his exporting the corn to the neighbouring nations. When the value of 1 BTC rises the corn gets too expensive for the importers and they start importing from elsewhere. A country has to do business with other countries or else it will end up like North Korea. So when the whole world has inflating currencies and 1 country has a deflating currency they will have a hard time.

Yes the farmer doesn't get business but it doesn't matter because he's richer. The IS a argument to be had in that it weakens the people's ability to farm. By being rich you just pay for what you need. That's why us in the wealthy countries have gone soft. And there's nothing wrong with that. "The best thing to do is let other's suffer the death and hardship and then have their babies." -satan

Hei_

newbie

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Quote from: briannguyen on April 17, 2013, 03:17:45 AM

I still dont know how people living there can use bitcoin to purchase food? Bitcoin Credit card?

seems like it saw already some cc

the founder

sr. member

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Bitcoin

Well whatever the report is, evidently people are buying bitcoins again... we just passed a billion dollars again (first time in days)

For the record... I don't trust that report....

knybe

hero member

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decentralize EVERYTHING...

here's a google news search of the past week with "zimbabwe + bitcoin"

...nothin: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=zimbabwe&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#q=zimbabwe+%2B+bitcoin&safe=off&client=safari&hl=en&rls=en&tbs=qdr:w,sbd:1&tbm=nws&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=HxdvUaGIBsGpiALH5YGoAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCQQpwUoAQ&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45368065,bs.1,d.cGE&fp=bdbabb10b94ab79&biw=1658&bih=940

Luckybit

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Quote from: ffernandex on April 17, 2013, 10:30:34 AM

I've heard of important bitcoin advocates trying to convince small nations to adopt bitcoin as official currency. This would make impossible to make bitcoins illegal.

Regarding the practical feasibility of this, there's a lot to speculate though.

But tying your currency to an inflation free-index is a solution that has been used with success in order to stop inflation. In Chile, my country, we have since the late 70's something called "UF" which is an alternate currency that readjust every month according to inflation. This currency is used in almost all real state transactions and for most credits. You can even make time deposits in UF to protect agains inflation.

Perhaps they don't need to actually use btcs, but just tie the exchange of their currency to btc prices.

Cheers!

People also forget that Ripple allows for the loans and lending element of BTC. Loans and lending already aren't going to be a problem.

Luckybit

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Quote from: Brushan on April 17, 2013, 03:26:34 PM

Quote from: Luckybit on April 17, 2013, 02:34:26 PM

Quote from: Brushan on April 17, 2013, 09:24:35 AM

Quote from: Operatr on April 17, 2013, 08:32:54 AM

Bitcoin has never been tried at such a wide scale in a single country, this is probably bupkiss though given their hyperinflation problems making their existing money absolutely worthless I could see this happening in some country sometime soon.

Why is deflationary a bad thing? Is it bad your money continues to appreciate in value over time instead of losing it like the Euro of Dollar never to recover their spending power? People need to disconnect fiat currency from crypto-currencies, they do not work the same and cannot be compared in an economic way. Bitcoin's deflationary nature ensure hyperinflation never occurs which I think has been proven to be infinitely worse for an economy.

Well let's say a corn farmer in Zimbabwe gets paid 10 BTC a month. To be able to to pay him 10 BTC a month the owner has to sell 1 kg of corn for 1 BTC. Let's say his exporting the corn to the neighbouring nations. When the value of 1 BTC rises the corn gets too expensive for the importers and they start importing from elsewhere. A country has to do business with other countries or else it will end up like North Korea. So when the whole world has inflating currencies and 1 country has a deflating currency they will have a hard time.

That isn't really true though. Why would we have to pay him 10 BTC a month if we cannot afford? When the value of 1BTC rises he can adjust his prices to 0.1BTC and then it solves everything.

What if the poor bastard has a loan of 100 BTC? How will he ever repay that? If you mean that we should also lower the loan then you won't find any lenders since people make more money by holding it than by lending it out. I'm in no way for todays economic system. It was my disgust for the bankers that made me interested in Bitcoin from the beginning. I just don't think a currency with bitcoins rate of deflation would do any good for a nations economy. There are other ways from my point of view.

Predatory lending happens in general with or without Bitcoin. Btw there are people who lend Bitcoins already because you do make money lending it out and getting interest. Deflation is a good thing, you just can't make sense of it because you're used to the world of credit and inflation rather than saving. You don't need to take out loans as big when you're in a deflationary economy.

the founder

sr. member

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Bitcoin

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-957375 <---- fake.

It's impossible for them to adopt bitcoin in it's current form... freaking 900 days out of the starting line and with the infrastructure of the commercial internet... circa 1993.

unless.... well.... if they backed some sort of paper currency with bitcoins then I supposes it's possible....

publish a blockchain address and just print based on that blockchain address.. let's say they had 500,000 bitcoins... then they print off a million notes for each bitcoin or whatever they hell they want.

Their currency would flucuate like mad because it's tied to bitcoin not gold ... but if it's actually convertible from their paper to bitcoin at a set exchange rate it might stabilize both.... actually scratch that.. it would stabilize both... because as far as they would be concerned people outside the country paying for diamonds or whatever would be paying directly in bitcoin, hence allowing them to increase their printing press...

virtualmaster

hero member

Activity: 504

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May be some people are dreaming about a Pan-African financial unity:
http://afrinnovator.com/blog/2013/04/01/bitcoin-crypto-currency-and-the-opportunity-for-a-truly-pan-africa-money-revolution/

Brushan

member

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Merit: 10

Quote from: Luckybit on April 17, 2013, 02:34:26 PM

Quote from: Brushan on April 17, 2013, 09:24:35 AM

Quote from: Operatr on April 17, 2013, 08:32:54 AM

Bitcoin has never been tried at such a wide scale in a single country, this is probably bupkiss though given their hyperinflation problems making their existing money absolutely worthless I could see this happening in some country sometime soon.

Why is deflationary a bad thing? Is it bad your money continues to appreciate in value over time instead of losing it like the Euro of Dollar never to recover their spending power? People need to disconnect fiat currency from crypto-currencies, they do not work the same and cannot be compared in an economic way. Bitcoin's deflationary nature ensure hyperinflation never occurs which I think has been proven to be infinitely worse for an economy.

Well let's say a corn farmer in Zimbabwe gets paid 10 BTC a month. To be able to to pay him 10 BTC a month the owner has to sell 1 kg of corn for 1 BTC. Let's say his exporting the corn to the neighbouring nations. When the value of 1 BTC rises the corn gets too expensive for the importers and they start importing from elsewhere. A country has to do business with other countries or else it will end up like North Korea. So when the whole world has inflating currencies and 1 country has a deflating currency they will have a hard time.

That isn't really true though. Why would we have to pay him 10 BTC a month if we cannot afford? When the value of 1BTC rises he can adjust his prices to 0.1BTC and then it solves everything.

What if the poor bastard has a loan of 100 BTC? How will he ever repay that? If you mean that we should also lower the loan then you won't find any lenders since people make more money by holding it than by lending it out. I'm in no way for todays economic system. It was my disgust for the bankers that made me interested in Bitcoin from the beginning. I just don't think a currency with bitcoins rate of deflation would do any good for a nations economy. There are other ways from my point of view.

Luckybit

hero member

Activity: 714

Merit: 510

Quote from: Brushan on April 17, 2013, 09:24:35 AM

Quote from: Operatr on April 17, 2013, 08:32:54 AM

Bitcoin has never been tried at such a wide scale in a single country, this is probably bupkiss though given their hyperinflation problems making their existing money absolutely worthless I could see this happening in some country sometime soon.

Why is deflationary a bad thing? Is it bad your money continues to appreciate in value over time instead of losing it like the Euro of Dollar never to recover their spending power? People need to disconnect fiat currency from crypto-currencies, they do not work the same and cannot be compared in an economic way. Bitcoin's deflationary nature ensure hyperinflation never occurs which I think has been proven to be infinitely worse for an economy.

Well let's say a corn farmer in Zimbabwe gets paid 10 BTC a month. To be able to to pay him 10 BTC a month the owner has to sell 1 kg of corn for 1 BTC. Let's say his exporting the corn to the neighbouring nations. When the value of 1 BTC rises the corn gets too expensive for the importers and they start importing from elsewhere. A country has to do business with other countries or else it will end up like North Korea. So when the whole world has inflating currencies and 1 country has a deflating currency they will have a hard time.

That isn't really true though. Why would we have to pay him 10 BTC a month if we cannot afford? When the value of 1BTC rises he can adjust his prices to 0.1BTC and then it solves everything.

Topic: Bitcoin as Zimbabwe's official currency + Prince of Sealand interest in bitcoin (Read 7626 times)