By Andrew Irumba
The government of Uganda has issued a stern warning to all people dealing in Crypto-currency that they stand losing their hard earned money.
The warning was issued in a document by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Matia Kasaija, titled ‘Statement On Crypto-currency’.
Kasaija warned the public that although there are hundreds of Crypto-currency dealerships disguised as financial institutions, the most renowned ones are Bitcoin and Ethereum.
He warned that since these Crypto-currency dealerships are not regulated by the Bank of Uganda and other government authorities, the people investing money in them by buying online financial assets risk losing their money.
However, Crypto-currencies have been riding on some pretty rocky terrain lately and many people across the world have lost millions on shillings to these scammers.
A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to secure financial transactions, control the creation of additional units, and verify the transfer of assets.
Cryptocurrencies use decentralized as opposed to centralized digital currency and Central Banking systems.
The decentralized control of each cryptocurrency works through distributed ledger technology, typically a blockchain, that serves as a public financial transaction database.
Bitcoin first released as open-source software in 2009, is generally considered the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Since the release of bitcoin, over 4,000 altcoins (alternative variants of bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies) have been created. (https://charlesmcdaniel.co/)
Here is minister Kasaija’s statement;