Central African Republic Passes Bill Legalising Use of Bitcoin (BTC)
Categories: Bitcoin US
The Central African Republic (CAR) has been a hot topic of discussion in the crypto sphere after many rumours that it is considering adopting Bitcoin (BTC) like El Salvador. Unlike common belief, the African country has not recognised Bitcoin as legal tender; instead, it has legalised the usage of digital currencies in financial markets.The crypto bill was proposed on Thursday by Justin Gourna Zacko, the minister of Digital Economy, Post and Telecommunications, and was favourably adopted by parliamentarians, despite opposition protests, according to RFI. The crypto legislation intends to provide an inclusive development environment for the region’s crypto economy. Minister Zacko also touched on the increasing difficulty of transporting money out of the African nation and hoped that the crypto adoption would resolve that problem.The new legislation would let merchants and corporations make crypto payments and also allow for tax payments in crypto through authorised institutions.Additionally, the new crypto legislation has measures for offenders who violate the law. According to one report, violators will face up to 20 years in prison and a fine ranging from 100,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 Financial Community of Africa (CFA) francs. “The real implication for people is that they can now have access to currencies other than the FCFA (this is the local currency) while being protected by law, and transfer money at a lower cost. Above all, they can carry out financial transactions without banks (while being protected by law).”A total of 14 nations utilise the CFA franc pegged to the euro and printed in France, and its monetary policy is under the control of Western powers. While the official exchange rate was pegged at 1 euro to 655.96 CFA francs, the fiat currency has lost value. As a result, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are gaining more popularity in nations faced with domestic economic crises.