From The Cedi To A Cryptocurrency—The Place Of Virtacoin

What would you do if a respectably dressed man walked into your shop, buys a list of items and pours cowry shells on the shelf as payment? You would probably jump to your feet and call him mad.

Though it is outdated, the cowry shell was a legal tender from the 14^th century till about 1796 when the Gold Coast coin was introduced. Even after 1796, the cowry remained a parallel currency with the Gold Coast coin and gold dust until 1901.

The cowry shell may be antiquated, but it has remained in Ghana until today, at least, in name.

In Fante, a local Ghanaian language,cowry shell is called “cedi”. Hence, when Ghana introduced her own currency, the name "cedi" was adopted.

The cedi as a legal tender was birthed in 1965, replacing the British pound. In 1967, after the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the cedi was changed and a newone was introduced. The third cedi was introduced on July the 2^nd 2007.It is called Ghana cedi (GHS) and it is the currency in circulation in Ghana today.

The cedi has a chequered history. The first one was introduced in 1965. It replaced the pound at 2.4 cedi to the pound. In 1967, the first cedi was replaced witha “new cedi”. The new cedi was worth 1.2 of the first one and two of the new cedi was equivalent to one pound. Within a few months, the new cedi had devalued to 2.45 to the pound. The dollar equivalent was pegged at $0.98.

As the years rolled by, the cedi was furtherpegged to the dollar. In 1971 it was $0.55. In 1972 it was $0.78 andin 1978, it rose to 2.80 to $1.00.

Inflation continued to erode the value of the cedi and in 1983 120 cedis equalled one dollar at the black market while the bank rate remained 2.80 cedis to the dollar. The government of the day was forced to start a gradual devaluation of the cedi and liberalization of the economy until 1990 when the cedi was freely floated against foreign currencies to find its own market level. This did not help. The cedi continued to fall until in 2007, 9500 cedisequalled $1.00. At this stage the introductionof the third cedi was initiated.

It was introduced as the Ghana cedi. The Ghana cedi was pegged at Ghc1.00 to $1.00. It did not stop the fall. The Ghana cedidepreciated till the last quarter of 2014 when it stabilized because of the pending IMF bailout. However, in 2015, the cedi started falling again. It was quoted for as high as GHc4.50 on the black market, only slightly lower at the bank rate. A recent intervention from the Bank of Ghana stopped the fall. For the first time in many months it traded below GHc4.00.Would the cedi ever plateau without any further jerks? Is there an alternative or a parallel? Maybe.

Cryptocurrency could be a parallel currency. It is a digital currency that uses encryption techniques to regulate the generation of units of currency. Others describe it as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new coins. Crypocurrency is different from fiat money like the cedi. While fiat money is backed by a promise, cryptocurrency is backed by mathematics.

The first cyptocurrency is bitcoin (BTC). Since then, others like virtacoin (VTA) have emerged. It is based on the same code base like bitcoin. Virtacoin is described as a system of payment in which all payments are recorded in a public ledger. It also uses encryption techniques. Only 21 million bitcoins and 21 billion virtacoins can ever be created. There is no opportunity to create more coins than the system is designed to create. This reduces the inflationary pressures that are associated with fiat money and the tendency to print additional money.

If this is true, is it time, to venture into a cryptocurrency like virtacoin? Could Ghana turn to cryptocurrency, its novel payment system, top notch transparency and let it run alongside the traditional fiat money?

Virtacoin transactions, like bitcoins are executed without any middleman. No banks are involved. The cost of transferring coins is absolutely or relatively free. It is not tied to any country or subject to any regulations, so international payments are easy and cheap. It is transparent.

Leading members of the virtacoin ecosystem expect virtacoin and bitcoin to meet in the same tunnel in the near future. When that happens, virtacoin is expected to rise to $1.00 or $0.50. A more bullish member of the virtacoin ecosystem is pegging 1 bitcoin at 10000 virtacoins and more daring individuals are pegging1bitcoinat one virtacoin. Imagine that you have 200, 000 virtacoins and 1 virtacoins rises to just $0.50. At current rates, that makes you $100,000 rich. You can use virtacoins to buy from the internet and from even brick and mortar shops all over the world. You can cash, in your currency, from any Mastercard enabled ATM using Net+ card from http://www.neteller.com

The easiest and fastest way to acquire virtacoinsis to buy. Currently, $1.00, gets between 100, 000 and 200, 000 virtacoins. Google "buy virtacoin in Ghana"or your country andyou will find a seller.

If you do not have money to buy, you can get it for free. Look for http://www.reddit.com/virtacoin there are people who will show you how to get it.

Virtacoin has the potential to become rich in a short time. In Ghana, a nationwide adoptionis an option to consider.