Zimbabwe stops dollar trading, bitcoin prices up to $76,000

In Zimbabwe, Bitcoin's trading premium is as high as 600%, as the country's oppressive monetary policy has prompted local investors to turn to a decentralized "safe harbor" cryptocurrency.

According to a number of media reports recently, Zimbabwe’s total ban on foreign currency circulation has triggered a huge premium for Bitcoin, which has sold for as much as $76,000.

As of press time, there is still a bitcoin price of up to $18,429.

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Since last week, the Zimbabwean government has decided to stop the dollar trading and reintroduced the heavily damaged Zimbabwean dollar. As early as 2008, due to hyperinflation, the Zimbabwean dollar has almost disappeared.

The move was completely unexpected, and the cash shortage exacerbated people’s anger over economic policy.

Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi, head of remittance service SureRemit, commented:

“Look at the application and price of Bitcoin in Zimbabwe. Like other places, 'full trust in the government' is just an economic term.”

In 2017, Zimbabwe officially stopped the legal circulation of cryptocurrencies. At that time, the economic difficulties continued, and Bitcoin once again appreciated greatly in the local area.

Since May last year, Zimbabwe’s cryptocurrency exchanges have been closed, so transactions can only be made on P2P platforms such as Localbitcoins.

This phenomenon is very similar to the story of Bitcoin's rise in mainstream culture. Especially in countries like Venezuela, people are full of confidence in cryptocurrencies in the face of unreliable statutory laws.

If the Zimbabwean government does not change its route, it is likely that large-scale protests will occur. As a result, Azte.co CEO Akin Fernandez predicts that interest in Bitcoin will continue in the future – despite the authorities’ attempts to enforce their existing ban.

He wrote on Twitter:

"In this story, using Bitcoin instead of the US dollar, you can not only see the future of Zimbabwe, but also the future of every country on the planet."

“Their rejection is correct. Money is a service and should be provided entirely by the market, not by the state.”

Although Zimbabwe’s bitcoin trading data is not available, according to Coin Dance’s statistics last week, global bitcoin trading volume has set a new record.

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