The Central African Republic (CAR) has become the center of the latest buzz in the crypto world. According to reports on social networks, the country would have adopted bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender, in the style of El Salvador. However, sources from the African continent reveal a different reality.
Last Thursday, April 21, the National Assembly of the African country unanimously approved a bill that contemplates the regulation of the use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in its territoryso it reflects the middle Tsunami.
The proposal for this law was issued by the Minister of Digital Economy, Post and Telecommunications, Justin Gourna Zacko, exposes the same source. The official explained that the objective of this document is “to establish a favorable environment for the financial sector that meets the needs of the profession in this sector and all economic actors.” In addition, that the country has a legal framework that governs cryptocurrencies and the businesses that use them.
Equally, The minister assured that investing in this type of digital assets “has many benefits for millions of users«. He also referred to the volatility in the market as an element that “must not be lost sight of”.
Something striking in the cabinet member’s statements was his reference to the ability not to depend on central banks, with a very different position than that governments usually have on the subject:
“With cryptocurrency, there is no longer control of the Central Bank. You have your money, you send it to an investor for a business, you receive it in any currency, you can dispose of it with he in Dollar, Euro, CFA or Naira. There are so many advantages in cryptocurrencies, of which I cannot mention all of them here, but first we would have to have the legal frameworks to allow any Central African to also benefit from this possibility of transferring money and receiving money.”
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Justin Gourna Zacko, Minister of Digital Economy, Posts and Telecommunications.
False alarm: the country did not “adopt” bitcoin
The report does not include any mention of the adoption of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency as legal tender. However, media like Forbes Monaco and dozens of bitcoiners in networks reported what happened as a new country that took the path of El Salvador.
Although it is not the case, there is still a group of local deputies who have shown their resistance to the approval of the law. Between your argumentsthe same ones used by regulators and governments in the world stand out: they consider bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a tool that facilitates money laundering, tax fraud or scams.
The Central African Republic is a country of about 623 square kilometers with a population of just over 5 million. population. In addition to a turbulent political situation, It is considered one of the poorest countries in the world.for which its population could benefit from the use of assets such as bitcoin, since they would not depend on the economic policies of their rulers.
With small and failing economies, Africans have been looking for alternatives like bitcoin for years. This is reflected in the high volumes of cryptocurrency trading in P2P markets that we have reported on CriptoNoticias in the past. Unlike in the Central African Republic this time around, the governments have not always been friendly to BTC.
In fact, a ban was approved in Nigeria that was later canceled. Finally, the country’s government announced the creation of its own central bank digital currency, the eNaira, sticking to the trend of most governments around the world.