- President Hassan’s comments and actions on improving Tanzania’s cryptocurrency reflect how open she is to foreign investment
- The Bank of Tanzania has sent out their officials to countries with more experience in CBDCs. This is an attempt to try and get a more comprehensive view of how these countries accomplished this fantastic fit
- Aside from CBDCs, Tanzania cryptocurrency has also received support from key contributors such as Yellow card, Paxful and Purse exchange
Africa has made waves in the crypto space for some time now. Headlines consistently scream one or two things involving Key African countries like; Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and even Egypt. You’ll often hear that one has made some massive step in cryptocurrency or pioneered new blockchain equipment.
Focusing too much on these five key countries, we lose sight of the underdogs and their contribution to Africa’s crypto ecosystem. Tanzania’s cryptocurrency efforts are worth a mention; it has recently risen through the ranks in the crypto world and now stands among the top 100 countries in cryptocurrency.
The continuous use of crypto assets within Tanzania paints a clear picture of the growth rate of Africa’s crypto ecosystem. Investing in cryptocurrency might take a turn for the better, primarily since the Bank of Tanzania(BoT) has expressed interest in CBDC.
The initial downhill of Tanzania’s cryptocurrency
Like in every other African country, Tanzania met cryptocurrency with much hostility from the Tanzanian government. In 2017, when dealing with cryptocurrency was still new in Africa, its government instantly rejected the currency.
The Director of the National Payment Systems of the Bank of Tanzania warned its citizens against using crypto assets. They would offer no assistance to those who did, and things went sideways. This was a typical move during those times. Although the few crypto enthusiasts in Tanzania still believed and continued investing in cryptocurrency.
Its slow but steady growth rate alarmed the BoT, which later issued a ban on the use of cryptocurrency in 2019. They stated that the country’s only acceptable and used legal tender was its fiat currency. At the time, the Bank of Tanzania was trying to warn its citizens of the high risk involved in dealing with cryptocurrency.
Despite its aggressive approach to crypto assets, Tanzanian crypto traders still took the risk and steadily expanded their network. Evidently, at the time of the ban, Tanzania could climb the ranks and be placed at 72 out of the 249 countries actively investing in cryptocurrency.
According to the then governor Florens Luoga, the Bank of Tanzania was still conducting extensive research on crypto assets before accommodating it. In addition, they refrained from altogether banning the notion and stated, “We can’t outlaw something that we are not yet competent with or regulate a game that we don’t know how to play.
We have not reached a position where we can cauterize cryptos, but we welcome applications from interested parties. All should feel free to present their ideas for consideration.”
