Bitcoin traders in Zimbabwe and South Africa are experiencing skyrocketing premiums on their bitcoin (BTC), according to a report Fxstreet on July 2nd 2019.
Amid South Africa and Zimbabwe’s recent ban on local trading in foreign fiat currencies, local traders have reportedly seen asking prices of as high as $50,000 per 1 BTC if they attempt to purchase from abroad.
Bitcoin is currently trading above $10,915 on South African crypto exchange Luno, according to CoinMarketCap data — 10.5% above its price point on Cointelegraph’s bitcoin price index.
Commentators on social media this week claimed that bitcoin is allegedly trading at as high as $76,000 in Zimbabwe. This is a premium of over 600%. Screenshots from P2P site LocalBitcoins.com shared on Twitter have seen traders attempted to pocket colossal gains at an asking rate of $75-76,000:
Commenting on the allegations, Tuur Demeester who is the founding partner at Adamant Capital Tweeted :
“Likely this is inflation that is simply not recognized by the government. I’m skeptical of that number as reflecting genuine premium.”
EToro senior market analyst Mat Greenspan concurred stating:
“Some crypto sites are reporting a 600% bitcoin premium in Zimbabwe.
This massive markup is actually just a reflection of the black market rate for USD held in EcoCash which have just been rendered virtually worthless by the government.”
Zimbabwe with an inflation rate approaching 100% this June has seen a push from the financial sector to establish more regulatory clarity for blockchain technologies.
As of 2017 Zimbabwe has enforced a policy of blanket bitcoin criminalization.