LISTEN: What's up with virtual currencies?

Andile Masuku

Andile Masuku

Published Feb 14, 2017

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Johannesburg - Bitcoin is slowly but surely winning over

its critics as it appears to be maturing into a legitimate asset class.

While it continues to try and prove itself, the

technology on which it is built— the blockchain, has long been identified as a

potentially game-changing platform on which to build financial services

products that promote inclusion and lower transactional cost.

Of late, the Reserve Bank of South Africa has joined the blockchain fan club by

running various experiments and declaring a willingness to emulate Tunisia by

launching a blockchain-based digital version of the South African rand.

Tunisia is currently the only African country that has

introduced a parallel virtual currency, - the eDinar, and Senegal is set to

follow suit later this year when it launches the eCFA.

Read also:  MMM's Bitcoin comeback

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria has taken a

decidedly different stance towards virtual currency, having recently warned the

country's financial institutions and its citizens that bitcoin and other

cryptocurrencies are not legal tender.

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