Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to regulate crypto; an effort to heal economy?

At press time, Bitcoin sentiment was extremely fearful; however, this did not stand in the way of crypto adoption. According to reports, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe [RBZ] has begun work on the draft of a policy framework around fintech companies.

The central bank of the country in 2018 had prohibited local banks from processing crypto transactions but has now expressed a change of heart. The country has been witnessing a growing interest in the field of fintech, especially cryptocurrency and regulations will ensure a thorough vetting process, according to the central bank’s deputy director, Josephat Mutepfa.

He stated:

“We have already started to come up with a fintech framework because in regulation everything should be well structured. The framework, which is a regulatory sandbox, will be assessing the crypto-currency companies as to how they are going to operate.”

He also noted that there could be certain products in the sandbox that will be asked to acquire a license like that of a microfinance company.

Mutepfa elaborated on the process:

“The sandbox will be an experimenting zone. Once the sandbox is there, there will be an application criterion, which will also act in the same capacity as the sandbox.”

Zimbabwe’s crypto-based trading consortium, SPURT, has been at the forefront of engaging with crypto and its business advisor, Brian Maseva believed that this decision from the central banks would help boost the crypto market.

He added:

“Meeting with the central bank will help us grow and attract the public to join the digital currency, which is fast taking over the financial sector. We are now aware that there is a policy, which elaborates more on fintech guidelines that we need to follow.”

Zimbabwe’s economy has been struggling and the government has been trying to fix it. Regulation of the fintech sector and embracing crypto could be an effort to raise the country’s financial standing, but its impact will only be seen over time.