Afghanistan and Tunisia’s central banks are aiming to approach the financial markets with a Bitcoin (BTC) bond, Hong Kong-based news outlet Asia Times reported. The governors of the both nation’s central banks revealed the plan at the annual Spring Meetings held between April 8 and 14 between the World Bank Group’s Governing Boards and the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
Afghanistan’s central bank governor, Khalil Sediq, reportedly told Asia Times the organization is contemplating the issue of a $5.8 billion sovereign crypto bond.
Sediq explained the role Bitcoin could perform in allowing government to access global markets and surmount acute lending restrictions. Central bank explores Hyperledger’s blockchain technology financial services platform to launch a unique financial vehicle. As an open source, worldwide joint work for cross-sector blockchain technologies, the Hyperledger could facilitate the new framework that would allegedly allow Afghanistan to run an enterprise-level platform.
The funds raised would be spent on capital investment in mining, energy, and agriculture. Among’s one of the world’s largest lithium producers, Afghanistan commands mineral reserves worth more than $3 trillion. The proposed Bitcoin bond could well be metal futures, such as lithium, if authorized and launched, and it will open a new chapter in financial markets. Likewise, Marouane El Abassi,
Tunisia’s central bank governor and former World Bank official, supposedly proclaimed that the organization is exploring the launch of a bitcoin bond. Per the press release, Abassi also highlighted that the nation was one of the first to introduce a cryptocurrency and enforced payments through a digital system. At the meeting, Tunisian central bank governor Marouane El Abassi explained that the pros and cons of a Bitcoin bond are being studied by a dedicated bank division.
Moreover, Abassi also supposedly praised Bitcoin, Blockchain and Hyperledger as a instrument for central banks to battle money laundering, handle money transfers to combat terrorism, and restrict grey markets. Finally, the press release also points that Uzbek ambassador Javlon Vakhabov stated that Uzbekistan may also issue a Bitcoin bond.
Uzbekistan, the world’s fifth-largest cotton producer, is allegedly already studying blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and the launch of a Bitcoin bond that could be linked to the cotton futures market.
Uzbek Ambassador to the US, Javlon Vakhabov, told delegates “Uzbekistan, which sent a high-level delegation to the IMF World Bank event so it could study Bitcoin and blockchain, should not be counted out in the race to issue the first sovereign Bitcoin bond.”
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde talked at last Wednesday’s spring meeting, noting that cryptocurrencies are “clearly shaking the system.” Notably, back in September 2018, Austria also raised € 1.15 billion ($ 1.35 billion) through the sale of government bonds loaded on the Ethereum (ETH) public blockchain. More lately, Germany’s justice and finance ministries suggested launching a government-operated database to increase blockchain use for digital bonds in March.
