Zimbabwe Central Bank Wants Citizens to Subscribe to Its Gold-Backed Digital Currency
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has said the tokens will be issued on May 8.
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The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) invited individuals and financial institutions in the country to subscribe to its upcoming gold-backed digital token in a Thursday notice.
Applications for the tokens must be for a minimum of $10 for individuals and $5,000 for financial institutions and corporates, according to the notice.
RBZ announced in April that the tokens, meant to combat its volatile local currency, will be issued on May 8. In March, inflation in Zimbabwe stood at 87.6% after hitting a high of 285% in 2022.
The central bank has split up the issuance and usage of the token into two phases. In the first phase, tokens will be issued for investment purposes and available for sale through banks. Tokens will be held in digital wallets or cards and available for person-to-person and person-to-business transactions in the second phase, the notice said.
"Holders of physical gold coins, at their discretion, will be able to exchange or convert, through the banking system, the physical gold coins into gold-backed digital tokens," the bank said.
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Camomile Shumba is a CoinDesk regulatory reporter based in the UK. She previously worked as an intern for Business Insider and Bloomberg News. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.