Just as their neighbours are eagerly waiting for the next blockchain movement, Burundi decided to get rid of all cryptocurrencies and any related crypto components.
The Authorities in Burundi are against any Cryptocurrency trading and any thing that has Crypto in it. These strict rules come with consquences for the Citizens that are found engaging in any of the banned activities.
Why?
This is not the first time that we have seen such bans, the authorities in some countries can not keep up with the discomfort of having to cope with Crypto which ofcourse comes with uncertainty, change in the economy and the risk of increased fraud especially to the ignorant. Speaking of fraud, The Central bank gave a similar reason why they couldn't continue to allow Cryptocurrency activities in their country.
Yes fraud is real but it is something that happens in every sector whether it has crypto or not.
If owning Cryptocurrency in Burundi is illegal then we can't be sure if this is the right move for such a country. It is likely that some citizens will still invest and trade cryptocurrencies at a risk of prosecution. Some decentralized crypto platforms will solve some of the problems for the Crypto enthusiasts in this country but still they will face some limitations that could cost them more.
The government of Burundi could be right as Crypto trading is risky and since Cryptocurrency is still a mystery in this country, it would cost the Citizens alot. I suppose, the right choice would be to educate the citizens rather than banning Crypto entirely.
For more info check out
Interesting...I wonder if any other countries will join in the ban as well.
Am not sure if they will reverse this ban. Many countries do remove the ban and come up with only restrictions.
I guess that they do not understand crypto, so they ban it.
I think other small countries could follow and then lose the evolution completely.
A pity, but fear of change is widespread, especially in authoritarian countries.
For most small countries it always takes them a very longtime to adopt such a new thing. I guess they are waiting to see if it's really safe.