Topic: Zimbabwe will be the first national economy running on bitcoin only (Read 2463 times)

Just to clear something though, Zimbabwe ahs abandoned it's currency in 2009 and uses other nations currencies since.

It doesn't matter if there are only 21 million coins when you'll be able to buy food for .000001 btc

Maybe not, and I think the reason Zimbabwe is not a good candidate is that their money tanked too early, now they use USD and South African rand and ar probably happy with that for a while.

Has anyone in Zim actually done a btc transaction yet?

Why hot?

Zimbabwe has an adult literacy rate of approximately 90%[5] which is amongst the highest in Africa. However, since 1995 the adult literacy rate of Zimbabwe has steadily decreased which is a trend shared by other African countries.

Because this!

Why not?

About 6 in 10 Zimbabweans say they have a working radio in their home (59.8%), and half have a working television (47.2%). Mobile phones are prevalent in Zimbabwe – 75.6% overall have a mobile phone in their household (personal ownership of mobile phones is at 68.8%).

Because of this!

Why not?

While 18.5% of Zimbabweans say they have access to the Internet in their home, just 10.0% have a working computer, indicating
that for many Internet users a mobile device is their primary source of access.

Because of this!

We only need a more stable bitcoin average price to get a nation to adopt it as a main currency or at least as a second currency.. fiat is becoming even more risky in some countries.

When the bitcoin price drops you know you only have to wait 1-2 months to let it recover but with the fiat that doesnt happen

Q: When a currency is devalued by hyper-inflation from printing too much money who benefits? A: The person printing the money.

Governments that devalue their currencies by printing way too much have no incentive to switch to another currency. Printing money is an indirect tax on the current holders of money.

The only way a country like Zimbabwe would switch to Bitcoin is if the people revolted and forced them to. African nations have rampant corruption so while it might be one of the best things that could happen economically it is very unlikely politically.

Yea, it sounds like my argument bites itself in the tail. Doesn't 1 + 2 = 2 + 1?
It's simple. For me, in germany, it's very easy to change my bitcoins. While some part of my values are in bitcoin, I know, I could transform them into Euro withing 2 days.
In Kenya / Zimbabwe nearly noone has und knows bitcoins. There's no exchange, it must be very complicated to change, you can't buy anything with them, so its very unpractical to have a part of your value in Bitcoins, even if some chart in the internet tells you it's worth a lot of dollar.
Their only incentice to have it, is to save capital. For this you have to buy dollars and go to international exchanges. When you made this, you don't want to change your worthgrowing bitcoins back against worth-loosing national money. Maybe you change it in Dollar or Euro.

You see? No contact between Kenyans Schilling and the Bitcoin. Just the capital, which already fled into Dollars to avoid inflation, transforms into bitcoins.

But this is just theory, and the real life, specially bitcoin, doesn't give too much on theory.

Hahaha, do u really believe in 6000000000 ppl ~~ 21000000 btc ratio? What about Santa Claus then?

Volatility is big problem. If you want to buy a bread and bitcoin overnight lost its value, you have problem. People don't want to care about this kind of things, they just want to life their simply lifes.

on a second thought: the money-changers will be there cuz it's buisiness - they only have to assert prices so they dont loose money ... trade off the kenian thing quick for BTC again or Euro ... exchanging kenian money with bitcoin and other currency could be a new branch of buisiness form them as it is for some of us. No difference there. So, yes, they will be able to buy BTC for Kenian cash.

the next big push is online-gambling though before the third world picks up speed ...
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/btc-will-bring-a-revolution-to-online-gambling-and-swallow-usd-gambling-at-large-288201

1. You believe no one will buy kenyan money for bitcoins because bitcoins is better as they don't loose value but gain value?
2. You believe no one will buy bitcoins for kenyan money because kenyan money is better as you can't buy anything with bitcoins in kenya?

You are arguing against your self.

1. When people need food, they will buy food for bitcoins or buy kenyan money for bitcoins and then buy food.
2. When people have much kenyan money, they will buy bitcoins and use it as a store of value.

good info! i didnt klnow it was heppening already. Give them some time ...

http://www.coindesk.com/kipochi-launches-m-pesa-integrated-bitcoin-wallet-in-africa/


that's why the first ones there will first use it to save money but the complete shift where literally everybody trades them via mobile on the local market for vegetables will happen quick as soon they understand that this thing is on the rise forever ... those low-tek-countries has people still talking to each other. Word spreads there quicker than in the western world. *Buschfunk funktioniert wunderbar* in german

Do not forget that most people in this country need their money to survice. They can't afford to "play" with it.

Look at kipochi, which announced 2 month ago to bring bitcoin to kenya. Nothing happened.

I martered my head about the mechanics. I came to the conclusion, that the biggest problems must be:
- who will give Bitcoins for kenyan money? Why should he? Kenyan Money will loose value, bitcoin will gain value.
- who will give Kenyan Money for bitcoins? Why should he? You can't buy anything with bitcoins in kenya, and you even can't change it against the kenya money (sorry, too lazy to open wikipedia).

By now you need to convert national money against dollar to get bitcoins and the other way round to get national money for bitcoins. These and the struggle to get access to an international exchange without documents / bank-account with western (verificatible) standard will eat every advantage bitcoin could bring to also kenya and zimbabwe (in germany its "simbabwe")

i agree partly on the first point about rationality - BUT: maybe they need a while to catch on - but they will - and BTC will be around. They will love to switch to a skyrocketing currency from an hyperinflation. Must be an intense shift for them - and the word will spread quick in the bush, believe me.
The IT-Infrastructure is not a problem since mobile phones are everywhere - also in Zimbabwe.
They would have to trade their Zimbabwe-money for USD first to purchase BTC of course ... nobody would want the Zimba-Dollar for bitcoins (ridiculus thought) ... i dont know to what extend they already trade in USD right now. In the balkan it was back in the day quite common to pay with german and US-Money when they had the inflation ... i guess it's no different in Zimbabwe ... not sure though ...

i am sure they would adopt BTC like crazy if they had someone to introduce and help them in the beginning ... i hope they educate themselves ...

... volatility will become less if more people participate in the market ... i think Zimbabwe wouldnt care about the volatility on an upwars-trend too much.

ah yeah and i forgot to mention: all the USD now in use in poor countries around the world will slowly come back home ... i dont know if the americans would like that ... this could additionally accallerate things and there is the possibility for a resulting inflation in usd which would mean that they also take resort to BTC and drive down further the price of the USD. I see a possible domino-effect once entire countries switch to BTC. BTC would have the potential to sink ALL the other currencies in a global inflationary crisis since BTC for sure trades diametral with accelerating speed to all other currency in such a situation ... once the herd runs to secure their money from inflatioin there is only Gold, Silver, Houses, Land and BTC to do so - and BTC will be the best choice ....
f(x)=x² for BTC and f(x)=-x² for 'USD and friends'
x is 'time' / y is 'purchasing power'
too lazy to draw right now ... both curves would meet at a point in the past, when 1BTC was 1$

look at case of mpesa in kenya... it can happen, problem is the volatility

you are going more realistic then many peoples talking about Zimbabwe and its not simbabwe its Zimbabwe 

Yea ... it had been rational for them not to print money without end, not to regulate economy by force to death, not to vote Mugabe again and again and again, not to believe in satanism; like it would be rational for the Congolesians, not to kill each other without end, it would also be rational for the whole african continent to build a freetradezone like the eu or to build large solar-areas ...

Many people here have the problem to accept that the rationality of a solution is nearly no reason for it to become reality.

Simbabwe has not the IT-Infrastructure to make btc a real currency.
Simbabwians are well educated, but more in a classical and theological sense, not with computers.
Simbabwian government is old and not very sophisticated, but willing to kill every resistance with violence.

And, to go for practical concerns: Who the hell will trade a bitcoin which will rise against simbabwian money which will fall? And which simbabwian will give his hard found dollar for a mystery-internet-coin? and so on ...

bump bump