163billion invested in bitcoion!!
Who are these people…?
NAIROBI, KENYA: If investing in Bitcoin is
among your plans, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) wants you to know you may lose all your money.
Bitcoin is a type of digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of any central bank.
CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge cautioned people against investing in the cryptocurrency now on the lips of thousands of investors across the globe.
“If you want to invest in those things, know that it is a bubble of a kind. Be ready to lose all your money. It is dangerous,” warned Dr Njoroge.
The governor, who addressed the Press at CBK headquarters in Nairobi on Wednesday said Kenya’s central bank shares this position with many peers he has been engaging around the world.
His warning, a reinforcement to the December 2015 public caution, may be a blow to daring Kenyans who have chosen to flow with the current, risking their money in the little understood online craze. Bitcoin traders’ meetings have been growing in popularity in Nairobi.
Bitcoin rose to a high of $17,000 (Sh1.7 million) stirring more interest and speculation but has embarked on a free fall, including losing a third of its value in a day. It is now valued at about $10,000 (Sh1 million).
This means an investor who bought one bitcoin on December 7 when the value was at its peak stand to lose Sh700,000 should he or she choose to sell it today.
Recently, Citibank analysts estimated that Kenya’s bitcoin holdings were about 2.3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) or the annual national output, making it among countries with the largest bitcoin holdings.
As of 2016, Kenya’s GDP stood at Sh7.1 trillion. This means Kenyans have risked about Sh163.3 billion in this cryptocurrency. Such money is enough to run the ministry of Health for about three financial years.
Citi survey estimates that the largest bitcoin holdings as a percentage of GDP are in Russia (five per cent), New Zealand and Nigeria (four per cent each). In Africa, South Africa tops followed by Kenya.
Njoroge said they have been looking into bitcoin and what it means for those who may want to put in their money.
“Block-chain technology is something that can be useful. We are not anti-technology. The issue is about safety. We don’t work in Mars or in some utopic space,” the Governor said on Wednesday.
Opus dei is a worried man he sees Kenyan ditching Kenyan currency. The way things are going I should start holding US dollar. Kenyan shillings itaanza kufree fall like the Venezuela currency
This advice is bad for people like me. The central bank is targeting the ordinary Joe with this advice. The average Joe believes that the only way to profit from Bitcoin is buying and holding. Personally, I think any above par trader should consider bitcoin and trade it on both sides. The average Joe still doesn’t know how to short bitcoin, that is why they always lose money.
Hiyo michezo swes taka karibu na mimi. That thing can wash you clean, overnight. The thing is about 6600$$ saa hii. I know mjamaa who bought it at 1.8M alaf in a few weeks ikawa 800k. It has never gone beyond 800k. Ikifika 20k just wake me up.
The best advice anyone can give you is research for yourselves. You will never hear CBK tell you Uchumi is a bad investment. They will never tell you bank stocks are a poor investment at the moment. All these things come with risk and are usually dominated by ‘smart money’ or insider trading especially safcom stock. Bitcoin may not be a good investment but that doesn’t mean you can’t make money with it.
Buuuulshiet!! Meffi, Kenyans will wake up one day and realize the shilling isnt worth the paper its printed on. Am loading up daily in this bear market and won’t stop until am unloading on you suckers once the government after loading up and declares it safe for kenyans to invest in Bitcoin/cc. Just research how banks and governments reacted to stock exchanges when the first emerged. DYOR and HODL
When it was rising a lot of wash wash people made a killing there. Dirty money went in a clean money came in. Either way they could now spend that cash which was only stuck in storage previously.
On 22 May 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz made the first real-world transaction by buying two pizzas in Jacksonville, Florida for 10,000 BTC. In five days, the price grew 900%, rising from $0.008 to $0.08 for 1 bitcoin. with it’s volatility,bitcoins trading is like going to vegas, play with money you are able to lose.Then there’s Etherium which caps at 273.43 a pop,doesn’t look promising…but what if?