The Director of Bitfinance, a local company that trades Bitcoin, Taurai Chinyamakobvu has accepted that the the use of of the online currency is not certain since it was experimental during an answer and question session at the Institute of Directors Zimbabwe (IoDZ) arranged breakfast meeting in Harare today. Chinyamakobvu was giving a presentation on The Future Of Money: Cryptography and Blockchain 101: The Greatest Innovation Since The Internet at the Munhumutapa Hotel.
The Bitcoin, was created Satoshi Nakamoto who published its invention via a mailing list in research paper titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, is an experiment but theoretically could go well according to the Bitfinance director.
One of the guests during the presentation, Tawanda Kembo, an entrepreneur who is also a Bitcoin evangelist agreed that he had to make a risk of leaving what he was doing to join the bitcoin business.
It is not clear whether Bitcoin is legal or illegal in Zimbabwe but people are not facing charges when using it as a currency.
However, the Bitcoin cannot be controlled by government since it is decentralised according to Chinyamakobvu.
“The bitcoin uses the blockchain…a decentralized ledger which removes the need for trusted third parties,” Chinyamakobvu said.
The currency is a decentralised peer-to-peer network which is used to buy and sell goods breaking geographical boundaries around the world according to the Bitfinance director.
“With e-currency based on cryptographic proof, without the need to trust a third part” – Satoshi Nakamoto
Bitcoins were introduced in January 2009 with the use of the Blockchain system. According to blockchain.info, an average of 250 000 transactions happen each and every day. Big companies such as the Microsoft are using the bitcoin for trading and the Japanese are also considering the use of bitcoin.Since the establishment of Bitcoin, more than 500 online currencies have emerged using the bitcoin strategy.