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Central African Republic Adopts Bitcoin as Legal Currency

by Alisha Bhagat, May 8
1 minute read

Lawmakers have unanimously approved a law legalizing the cryptocurrency as an official currency alongside the CFA Franc.

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So what?

CAR is one of the world’s poorest countries and has been in conflict for many decades. Supporters of this policy claim that transactions will become easier as people will not have to walk around with physical cash, and the currency will be universal and free of exchange.

However, by adopting this monetary policy, and following countries such as El Salvador and Vanuatu, CAR is staking a lot on a very volatile currency that is outside of their national control. Excessive volatility could translate to the economy, consumption, and household wealth. Furthermore, as several in CAR lack access to the internet, it is unclear how bitcoin will be accessed and what security measures for citizens will be taken.

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by Alisha Bhagat Spotted 29 signals

Alisha Bhagat is the futures lead at Forum for the Future. Her work focuses on the creative use of futures tools to impact long term positive change, particularly around social justice and equality. Alisha brings a broad toolkit to her work and designs games, creates immersive experiences, and brings the future to life. In addition to her work at Forum, Alisha is a part-time faculty member at Parsons School of Design where she teaches the Futures Studies and Speculative Design certificate. Prior to joining Forum, Alisha was a foreign policy consultant for the US government and a fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu. Alisha holds an MS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a BS in Anthropology and History from Carnegie Mellon University. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2005. When not thinking about the future, Alisha is an avid gamer and science fiction enthusiast.

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