Cameroon to Analyze Potential Risks and Challenges Posed By Digital Currencies

The interest in regulating digital currencies has developed within the Government of Cameroon as well. The Government there has therefore planned to carry out a workshop that will aim at analyzing the potential risks and challenges that are posed by digital currencies.

Yaounde is the area in Cameroon where a crypto-related workshop has been proposed to be held by the Cameroon Government. The workshop will be held on 15th November 2021 under the auspices of the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry of Cameroon. It is the Government’s that the potential risks and challenges involved in the usage of digital currencies are analyzed and determined. Once the risks and challenges are determined, then the regulatory structure for crypto will be laid down in Cameroon, said the Ministry.

Ministry noted that there had been a lot of scams and misuse of digital currencies in the past in the country. However, the scams and misuse of cryptocurrencies could have been prevented if there were regulations. Hence, it is appropriate to first organize a workshop where the dangers of crypto usage are determined and then the issues are addressed accordingly. Ministry was of the further view that crypto regulation is a must but Cameroon has to immediately form a mechanism for identifying crypto frauds. Ministry said that most of the crypto scams are taking place in the country from across the border, particularly from the African region.

According to a report, which was published in 2020, there hasn’t been a single law that deals with the issue of crypto in Cameroon. Resultantly, crypto users and investors in Cameroon continue to be exposed to grave risks because of the lack of any regulation. However, there is huge interest in crypto in the country which is growing day by day. There is one regulation however which is being utilized to have some sort of regulatory control over digital currencies. That particular law is called the “Central African Economic & Monetary Community”. However, in terms of preventing crypto frauds, this law has proven to be useless. It is in fact an adopted regulation which though deals with crypto yet in an ordinary fashion. On the contrary, the Cameroon Government needs a proper law that would exclusively govern the local crypto industry.

However, acknowledging the public’s interest and behavior towards digital currencies, the Government has been forced to think out of the box.

There were rumors in Cameroon also that the Government wanted to invest in Bitcoins. However, it was no more than a rumor which was also confirmed by the Government in Cameroon as well through the country’s central bank. The central bank of Cameroon also endorsed the Government’s point of view that crypto regulation should be introduced immediately. As regards, the possibility of launching a national CBDC, the bank confirmed that there is no such initiative taken for the time being. However, the project may be initiated after laying down the regulatory structure, said the bank.