BATANAI MATSIKA
Readers that have been following the price trend of Bitcoin (BTC) would know that the cryptocurrency has reached historical maximum prices and is up 92.78% on a year-to-date basis.
According to Pantera Capital, a blockchain hedge fund, Bitcoin is now ahead of its April 2021 forecast schedule and is set to reach US$115,000.
In fact, Bitcoin is becoming an increasingly important part of the global financial system given that Bitcoins in circulation are now worth a trillion dollars and prices have recovered 890% over the last year.
Most of the major financial institutions are now backing the world’s largest cryptocurrency and there is growing interest from retail investors.
The sad news is that if you use a Zimbabwean address, you cannot participate in the Bitcoin price trend.
There is no Bitcoin wallet company or exchange in Zimbabwe and most global wallet companies will not accept or verify your account.
We recall that sometime back in 2018, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) triggered the shutdown of Golix when it ordered banks in Zimbabwe not to be involved in any transactions involving cryptocurrencies.
Golix was one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchange platforms in Zimbabwe that had also introduced a Bitcoin ATM.
The ban also halted its planned token sale to raise US$32m under an initial coin offering (ICO) aimed at generating funds to expand across Africa.
Unfortunately, for Zimbabweans – this form of exclusion is not just with cryptos.
Creators and those involved in e-commerce would attest how difficult it is to receive online-payments.
For example, the option to “receive PayPal payments” is not available in Zimbabwe.
More recently, Skrill announced to its Zimbabwean customers that it will cease providing services in the country on 20 April 2021.
Skrill is a payments facilitator that operates in over 120 countries across the globe and offers cross-border payments via Skrill Money Transfer.
While we note that the operation of certain fintech services raises several concerns (black credit operations, money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity, data breach and consumer rights protection), there is need to push for regulatory frameworks that also promote innovation and inclusion.
The Fintech Regulatory Sandbox guidelines set by the RBZ are therefore meant to provide a regulatory environment that is conducive for the deployment of fintech.
A regulatory sandbox is a framework set up by a regulator that allows fintech start-ups and other innovators to conduct live experiments in a controlled environment under a regulator’s supervision.
It is envisaged that the sandbox will promote safe and responsible innovation of financial products and enhance access, usage and quality of digital financial services.
As Morgan & Co Research, we see opportunities for financial services groups to create value by partnering with disruptive fintechs and innovators.
We think investors on our market can play this theme through Cassava Smartech Limited.
New technologies and innovation remain the group’s major investment thesis. We rate Cassava Long Term BUY.
Batanai Matsika is the Head of Research at Morgan & Co, and Founder of piggybankadvisor.com. He can be reached on +263 78 358 4745 or batanai@morganzim.com / batanai@piggybankadvisor.com
