Government working on policy to regulate cryptocurrency payments

Government is working around the clock to put in place a policy that will regulate cryptocurrency payments, the State Minister for Finance in charge of general duties, Gabriel Gadison Ajedra Aridru has said.

Speaking during a workshop aimed at enhancing capacity for key policymaking agencies to develop a multi-sectoral approach to regulate emerging disruptive technologies at Golden Tulip hotel in Kampala Ajedra said government is concerned by the new technology and hence the need for a policy regulation.

“Two weeks ago, President Museveni directed the Ministry of Finance to prepare a paper on cryptocurrency. This was necessitated by the many schemes some of which are legitimate whereas others are not,”Ajedra said.

“The paper we shall present to cabinet will explain more about cryptocurrency.”

Many people argue that cryptocurrency has mystified technicalities that most of them have failed to understand and how it operates.

Other people have argued that cryptocurrencies are another form of Ponzi schemes and are therefore not willing to adopt the same.

Speaking during the workshop, the Finance Minister said cryptocurrency is the new form of money that every person should embrace because it is here to stay.

“In the beginning, it was barter trade and then came hard cash. Later we adopted credit and visa cards. Now technology has advanced to have digital currency. Cryptocurrency is the new medium of exchange and it is not just wishful thinking. It is here to stay,”Ajedra said.

He said because the concept is now going anywhere, there is a need to put in place policies and regulations that would govern it to emulate other countries in the world that have done the same.

Early this month, government said it had already formed and inaugurated a national taskforce to advise in adopting the Blockchain technologies, which has become the driving force in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era.

“We have inaugurated the National Taskforce on the Fourth Industrial Revolution in April this year, whose work will guide our policy direction in this area we are discussing,” President Museveni said in a speech read for him by the Prime Minister, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda during second Africa blockchain Conference at Kampala Serena Hotel.

A cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency and is facilitated by blockchain technology.

A blockchain is a public, digital ledger that anybody can verify and it is distributed globally among a network of computers.

The two-day workshop was organized by the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders(UNAFRI).