Bitcoin
The State of Bitcoin in Cameroon
The Republic of Cameroon has a small bitcoin community compared to its more established African counterparts in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria. In this article, you will be introduced to the state of bitcoin in Cameroon including its legal status and the startups that are enabling Cameroonians possibility to invest in bitcoin.
Is Bitcoin Legal in Cameroon?
Currently, bitcoin and other digital currencies have no legal status in Cameroon. The central bank of the six-nation monetary union, CEMAC, has not yet issued any specific guidance on the use of bitcoin within its borders.
The central bank of CEMAC did create a legal framework for electronic money in 2001. In its framework titled ‘Regulation No. 01/11-CEMAC/UMAC/CM – On the Use of Electronic Money’, the regulator outlines how electronic money can be used to bank the underbanked populations in the region. However, there is no mention of bitcoin or other decentralized cryptocurrencies in the framework.
Cameroonians can therefore buy, hold and use bitcoin as they please. At least, until any specific guidance on bitcoin will be issued.
While that is good news for bitcoin traders and investors, it means that bitcoin and blockchain startups do not fall under regulatory oversight, which can be an issue for consumers as they receive no protection but also for the startups themselves who are operating in a regulatory “no man’s land” without knowing whether regulation could come and stomp them out of business as it has been the case in Namibia, which recently banned bitcoin use in commerce.
Cameroon’s government is not adverse to Digital Currency
What is encouraging for Cameroon’s bitcoin community is that the Cameroonian government has previously trialled a bitcoin-like digital currency called Trest in a test conducted in 2015 with the help of Indian IT company Trestor.
Antoine De Padoue, president of RDPF KUMZE, Cameroon’s minority opposition party at the time, told IANS:
“The results were excellent. We enrolled 500 people between the ages of 15 and 35 from a small economically-knit community. We asked them to use ‘Trest’ as their default method of payment for 30 days. In short, we artificially created a Trest-based micro-economy. People were able to comprehend and understand this very new method of payment. They were excited and started improvising their own uses within the first five days of the pilot. We achieved quantifiable efficiency gains and the benefits far outweighed the negatives.”
This shows that Cameroon is very open to mobile payment innovation. It could, therefore, become a fruitful breeding ground for cryptocurrency solutions especially given the country’s low number of individuals with bank accounts but high mobile phone penetration.
The government even looked at bitcoin before conducting this trial with Trestor but found that:
“Bitcoin’s transaction fee to the user was low but the real cost to the network was unimaginable. That was a deal breaker for us. We couldn’t believe the Bitcoin network consumed about $18.95 of electricity to process a single transaction,” according to De Padoue.
Bitcoin Startups in Cameroon
Bitcoin-related startups in Cameroon are currently limited to bitcoin exchange platforms. While global exchanges such as LocalBitcoins operate in the country, there are also a few local e-money platforms that enable users to buy bitcoin online.
E-money services providers that sell bitcoin include platforms such as VirtaCash Ltd and Achatpmbtc. However, neither bestow a lot of confidence in users due to the unprofessional appearance of their websites, not listing live exchanges rates, and not stating who is operating the platforms.
Cameroonians can also use CamerBitcoins to purchase bitcoin locally. However, the startup has been running a bitcoin “investment scheme” until recently that looked a lot like a bitcoin HYIP, which does not bode for the company’s image as all bitcoin HYIPs are known to be scams.
The more secure option for Cameroonians when it comes to transacting in bitcoin seems to be the use of international exchanges or to deal directly with individuals in the bitcoin community that they know and trust.
Cameroonians can also use BitRefill to top up their mobile minutes using bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s Potential Impact on Cameroon
In a country, where the minimum wage is $80 per month, a growing cryptocurrency economy could potentially lead to the creation of more wealth for Cameroonians. Whether it is through the investment in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, through the receiving of low-cost money transfers or through the development of new bitcoin and blockchain solutions, cryptocurrencies could have a much more positive impact in a country like Cameroon than in the developed world.
A special thanks goes to Mireille Kooh of Afrik Digital Marketplace for providing BitcoinAfrica.io with insight and information about the bitcoin community in Cameroon. You can reach out to her on her blog if you want to learn more about the fintech and bitcoin ecosystem in Cameroon.
To learn more about Bitcoin, download the Bitcoin Beginner’s Handbook for free.
Statistics, examples, and ways to legally use cryptocurrency
October 1, 2013, was a turbulent day for San Francisco Public Library. A dozen FBI agents pretending to be usual visitors surrounded a man sitting at one of the tables, took his laptop and put a pair of handcuffs on his hands. That man was Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road – the largest darknet marketplace for drug dealers, killers, and other criminals. The seizure of Ulbricht was supposed to tackle the illegal online trade, but, as the news site DeepDotWeb wrote, the bust was “the best advertising the darknet markets could have hoped for”. The reputation of cryptocurrency also suffers from associations with terrorists, who sometimes use it for their needs. How big is the real scale of the problem? And how many legal ways to use crypto exist? ChangeNOW has dived into the topic – and suggests you an overview of the current state of the problem.
Highlights:
- The drugs trade volume using cryptocurrency is relatively large
- Crypto was a significant reason why a part of drug sales migrated to the web, though stays yet not viable and anonymous enough for dealers (same as for terrorists)
- As efficient use of blockchain technology requires good infrastructure, crypto remains not suitable enough for many terrorist groups
- However, some terrorists are trying to adjust to anonymity threats and hold fundraising in crypto
- Legal ways to use cryptocurrency include dozens and vary from IT services to car rentals
Crypto & Drugs & Rock’n’Roll
The total volume of the online drug market using cryptocurrency is around $1 billion. It is located in the darknet, which provides an attractive, profitable, and mostly secure environment for drug dealers. Cryptocurrency, in turn, allows making payments that are hard to be tracked by authorities. This is how blockchain technology has helped to bring a big part of drug sales online from the streets. And it’s not only about drugs themselves – many legal opioid drugs are illegally sold here, too.
However, cryptocurrency is not always as secure and anonymous as it is thought to be. The information about any transaction ever made stays forever in the blockchain, which makes the system way more transparent than cash payments. This is a significant limitation for using crypto in illegal purposes.
According to the University of Technology Sydney, about 46% of criminal activity of each year is connected to Bitcoin. As for the drug sale itself, trade volumes in crypto keep rising, but the percent of Bitcoin drug transactions out of all transactions goes down. This means Bitcoin is more frequently used for legitimate purposes.
What cryptocurrency is used for drug sales most often? Surprisingly, privacy coins such as Monero are used only for 4% of transactions. Due to its pioneer position, Bitcoin is used in 76% of all deals despite all its anonymity risks.
The main problem for drug dealers using crypto is to turn their income into cash. This move remains complicated and insecure. Most cryptocurrency exchanges have instruments to define whether a transaction is coming from a suspicious source like the darknet. The rise of Monero use in the online drug market will hinder such tracking. However, for the reasons listed above, crypto is unlikely to completely replace regular cash in drug sales in the foreseeable future.
Cryptoterrorism
The views on how much cryptocurrency is used and will be used by terrorists vary widely. While some claim that terrorists have no infrastructure to use it and the methods are not secure enough, others argue that they are learning fast and adjust to crypto rapidly. Let’s see what both sides say.
Not actively using, unclear future
Lack of appropriate infrastructure, inability to use crypto. Most terrorist groups settle in the Middle East region, especially on its remote and war-torn territories. The vast majority of roads and technological infrastructure have been destroyed. In such circumstances, cash remains the most common and convenient way to pay and fundraise. Imagine a gun seller in a Syrian village – does it look like he has a tool to accept Monero?
Anonymity threats. Given the relative transparency of blockchain mentioned above, crypto might remain too unsafe for terrorists. Miners can see any potential terrorist money exchange while checking transactions, and it’s not too hard to see who sends them money. It can change with the rising use rate of privacy coins, but the ability to spend such money remains questionable.
Increased attention to crypto by the authorities. As the number of transactions keeps rising, more regulatory bodies’ attention gets focused on cryptocurrency, which apparently makes terrorists nervous and cautious.
Problems of specific currencies. While top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin receive much regulatory attention, others remain marginal and unreliable because of a lack of support. Conflicts and uncertainty lower the trust to such cryptocurrencies – yes, even terrorists’ trust.
Using actively now, increasingly in the future
Terrorists seem to be rapidly learning to escape from tracking in blockchain. Several years ago it was easy to find any address or transaction made for a terrorists’ fundraiser. Today they use well organized and finely designed websites, where detailed video tutorials show how to donate money anonymously. Unique Bitcoin addresses and other crypto tricks are used to preserve security. Analysts from intelligence services claim there’s only going to be more such cases. And, of course, privacy coins are a “great opportunity” for terrorists too.
Shift to cryptocurrency is a reaction to economic sanctions. ISIS has lost most of its territory and resources, Hamas has been sanctioned by the West. Having been cut off from all main financial institutes, terrorist groups had to find other pathways for their financial activities – and cryptocurrency appeared to be the best substitute.
There might be difficulties and inconveniences, and the number of terrorists using crypto is yet unknown – but as we can see, digital money in terrorism is reality. Same as in drugs. And this is what cryptocurrency is notorious for, lacking trust among millions of people. The reputation of some of the exchange services only adds to this mistrust – ChangeNOW has carried out a special investigation on how such platforms may cheat their clients. But can you buy anything besides heroin and firearms with your crypto? What about pizza or a concert ticket?
Only Antarctica left
Cryptwerk, a platform monitoring actual use cases of different cryptocurrencies, says there are about 3500 ways to spend Bitcoin and more than 800 for Monero today. They range from music services to car rentals, from buying clothes to hotel booking services, and from sports bets to virtual tours.
Organizations accepting cryptocurrency are located on all continents besides Antarctica (what could be a better place for crypto than a continent without governments and countries though?). Mostly, in the USA and Central Europe. Bitcoin as the largest cryptocurrency is relatively widespread in India and Southeast Asia.
As this is a whole another topic, ChangeNOW will issue a post dedicated to use cases of cryptocurrencies. As it will be more detailed, who knows – maybe you’ll find a pizza right by that you could pay for from your crypto wallet!
This article was contributed by Jeremy from ChangeNow.
Buroka is a new breed of cryptocurrency exchange for Africa! Currently operating in Nigeria, Buroka was designed to fulfill the needs of modern Africans. Buroka allows customers to buy and sell Bitcoin with Naira via Local Transfers and cash deposits at the bank. In this Buroka review, you will learn more about the exchange and how you can use it to buy bitcoin in Nigeria.
How to Buy Bitcoin on Buroka
Step 1: Account Creation
To create an account, visit Buroka.com and hit the “Register” button. This will lead you to a page where you will be asked to fill in your personal information, including your name, email address, and password. Like any other serious exchange, Boruka will ask you for your ID, Proof of Address, and to take a selfie with your ID to eliminate fraud.
Step 2: Fund Your Account
Funding your account on the platform is straightforward. You can deposit either via bank transfer or at any bank branch. Make sure to use a unique reference code given to you by Buroka deposit system.
Step 3: Buying and Selling BTC
Once your deposit has been credited to your account you can immediately buy your Bitcoin. The buying and selling tab is located on the top right corner of the dashboard. There you can input the amount of bitcoin you want to buy. Once you do that, you then click on the “BUY BTC” button.
Step 4: Storing Your BTC
After buying BTC, Buroka provides users with the option of either storing bitcoin on the platform in a BitGo wallet or any other wallet of their choice.
Currently, Buroka only supports bitcoin (BTC). However, the exchange plans to include other cryptocurrencies going forward.
Security
Buroka exchange makes use of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). 2FA provides an extra layer of protection for users. With the 2FA in place, an extra piece of information is needed before login into the platform or making any withdrawals.
In addition, Buroka’s platform is also protected using the latest security technology, including web-socket and API protocols that allow for a fast and secure order processing. Buroka also makes use of a well-updated SSL certificate, which makes it easy to detect a phishing attempt.
To further ensure that clients’ funds are secure, Buroka operates segregated accounts. These accounts are held with trusted banks so that clients can enjoy an extra layer of security provided by the banking system.
Conclusion
Buroka is a relatively new Bitcoin exchange with a well-designed, user-friendly interface. The Bitcoin trading platform provides several deposit options, which is attractive for Nigerian Bitcoin traders, as well as competitive market rates for both buyers and sellers.
If you are looking to buy or sell bitcoin in Nigeria, you can give Buroka a try.
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