The Bank of Botswana (BOB) stated that the country does not have a specific legal or regulatory framework related to crypto assets. However, the bank does warn residents who invest in cryptocurrency that if they suffer financial losses, they will have no legal recourse.

Central Bank responds to public enquiries

In its statement The central bank announced on November 10 that it first admitted that local residents, like residents all over the world, are engaged in cryptocurrency transactions. In addition, BOB also admitted that it has been receiving and responding to inquiries from the public and the media on this issue.

Next, the statement shared some observations made by the central bank when monitoring the growth of crypto asset trading.

“There is no specific legal or regulatory framework that involves or prohibits investment in crypto assets, such as Bitcoin in Botswana. Therefore, transactions in Bitcoin or similar decentralized technologies (also known as “cryptocurrencies”) are similar to any other intangible assets Investment, these assets have inherent risks of this type of investment, such as investors who completely lose value or may abuse technology to cause damage,” the BOB press statement explained.

Although BOB insists that it has no legal recourse against cryptocurrency investors who have suffered losses due to fraudulent schemes, the bank does urge investors to “do due diligence on the registration and legality of the business and the nature of business activities, including the method of production and Source of return.”

Cryptocurrency is not real currency

The central bank’s statement also indicated that the potential activities of some companies engaged in crypto trading may be related to pyramid schemes and fraud. Therefore, BOB once again warned investors engaged in cryptocurrency trading that they may “participate in criminal activities.” From the BOB’s perspective, this means that these cryptocurrency investors may “be liable to be sued and/or face significant financial and asset loss risks”.

At the same time, the statement also announced BOB’s views on cryptocurrency as a currency classification. According to the Central Bank, this reference to cryptocurrencies is wrong because they do not exhibit the key fundamental and complementary characteristics of currencies or currencies, such as being a stable store of value.

According to BOB, cryptocurrency cannot be a widely accepted unit of account or medium of exchange. More importantly, from the perspective of BOB, cryptocurrency does not have the support of the state or central bank in terms of legal tender status, transferability, exchange or value.

What is your opinion on this statement made by BOB? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

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