Zimbabwe’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), has ordered all financial institutions in the country to immediately stop handling and trading cryptocurrencies.
Norman Mataruka, Registrar of Financial Institutions at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said,The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is taking steps to protect the public and to safeguard the integrity, safety and soundness of the country's financial system.It is reported that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe requires all financial institutions to withdraw all business relationships with virtual currency exchanges within 60 days and liquidate all accounts involving cryptocurrency transactions.
Norman Mataruka stated that in order to avoid dissent,The banking services involved in this case include account maintenance, registration, transactions, settlements, collateral agreements, remittances, payment and settlement accounts, and loans for virtual tokens. In addition, he added that businesses such as accepting cryptocurrencies as collateral, opening trading accounts, and account transfers/receipts related to the purchase/sale of virtual currencies will also be prohibited.
Norman Mataruka emphasized:
“As the monetary authority, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is the custodian of the public trust and is obliged to protect the integrity of the payment system. Cryptocurrencies have strong links and interrelationships with standard means of payment and transaction applications, and depend on serving the financial system as a whole. most of the financial institution infrastructure.”
Not only that, but the governor of the Central Bank of Zimbabwe, John Mangudya, issued another statement in which he warned against using cryptocurrencies for transactions. He said:
“Anyone who buys, sells, or otherwise transacts in cryptocurrencies, whether online or otherwise, does so at their own risk and neither the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe nor the regulator will be liable for any legal recourse to cryptocurrencies. "
John Mangudya also stated that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe will continue to closely monitor developments in the cryptocurrency industry and global cryptocurrencies to inform policy direction. At the same time, he also revealedThe Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has not authorized or approved any person or entity or exchange to issue, sell, buy, exchange or invest in any form of virtual currency/coins/tokens in Zimbabwe.
