How bitcoin offers anxious Zimbabweans the inflation protection they crave
Harare — For most investors around the world, bitcoin is a volatile and highly speculative bet. For Zimbabweans, however, the cryptocurrency seems to offer rare protection from the onset of hyperinflation and financial implosion. Some are turning to bitcoin out of desperation as their bank deposits lose value almost by the day, while others are using the online currency for housekeeping such as funding family members studying abroad. The result is startling. Bitcoin’s global surge to a record high of $7,888 last week — a sevenfold increase since the start of the year — has been spectacular enough. But on Harare’s bitcoin exchange, Golix (golix.io), the price hit $13,900, a 40-fold jump in the same period. Warnings abound internationally that bitcoin may be a bubble waiting to burst. But the dire state of the Zimbabwean financial system under President Robert Mugabe is encouraging risk-taking. "I have now changed all my reserves to bitcoin because that is the only way I can protect m...
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