Hi ZIMBOCASH community

Well, here we are, 12 days into a movement that has the potential to transform Zimbabwe!

We’ll be sending you an email regularly to keep you informed of the progress – we call these fireside chats. We’ll talk about our heart for ZIMBOCASH, let you know who we are, and address your questions from our social media channels.  Feel free to unsubscribe from these emails below – it won’t impact your registration with ZIMBOCASH.

Who is the ZIMBOCASH team?

We’re a broader community of people in Zimbabwe and around the world who have a passion for the country and for sound money and banking. ZIMBOCASH isn’t a corporation and neither is it one person. Rather, it is a collective of volunteers who have a vision for this simple idea – Zimbabwe is one of the few countries in the world where a decentralised fixed currency and banking system could be implemented by people living on the ground.

It was my great joy to come across this likeminded community and it is a privilege to be part of this team. My name is Philip Haslam and my role is to answer any questions you have and talk you through all things ZIMBOCASH.

I am a chartered accountant in South Africa and an economist. I wrote a book about Zimbabwe’s first 2008 hyperinflation – When Money Destroys Nations. Zimbabwe has always been in my heart. I’ve loved the country for as long as I can remember. The people. The landscape. The culture. All of it.  My wife and I pray often for the country. I have met each of the ZIMBOCASH volunteers and am impressed by the calibre of their expertise and their integrity.

Since I was in primary school I have dreamed about a fixed currency system. I have studied the damaging effects of money printing and hyperinflation and have wondered about creating a currency that is fixed in supply and can be traded quickly and cheaply between people. This is ZIMBOCASH. I'm so glad I found this community.

ZIMBOCASH is free for all Zimbabweans and will be allocated to all people who register. We’ll then fix the supply and allow people to trade as we finalise the blockchain, which we will launch soon thereafter. We’ll also put ZIMBOCASH on an exchange so you can trade it and convert it easily into other cryptocurrencies.

And then we’ll see where it goes.

Mostly, however, ZIMBOCASH is a community. The more people who join the community, the more value ZIMBOCASH will have for everyone. It’s called the Network Effect and is the reason why bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have so much value.

Conversely, there will be little value in ZIMBOCASH if few people sign up.  The power is in the numbers. It’s that simple. This is your community. Yours to share and yours to grow. That’s why we want to incentivise people to introduce their friends – the more you grow the community, the more value it has for you.

Sceptical and need more answers?

We’ll be sending out more mailers to answer your questions in detail but for now, to answer a few key issues raised by people:

1. No, ZIMBOCASH is not a scam. We will not now, nor will we ever ask you for your money.
2. Yes, the information you give us is secure – passwords are encrypted, the database has appropriate information security including two-factor authentication for our data engineers and appropriate fire-walls.
3. The reason we need ID numbers is because we have to make sure that only Zimbabweans sign up (for a multitude of global laws and regulations).
4. We will not sell your information or give it away to anyone. It will be used for your log-in on the ZIMBOCASH system when it is launched, as well as to communicate with you. We are working hard to ensure that our system is safe with the latest in cryptographic security.
5. No, this is not a pyramid scheme. No-one’s earnings are based on what others pay. ZIMBOCASH is given to everyone for free but those that refer others are allocated more.
6. There is minimal risk for you to join.
7. We’ll dedicate another blog to the question – “how could you possibly make a claim that people can get something for nothing?” In a nutshell, however, people don’t get something for nothing – there is value when you and others join the community (network effect).

As part of the ZIMBOCASH community, we want to hear from you. We want to understand your views, your experiences and concerns.  If you’ve got questions, please ask. Tell us what you think, recommend your ideas and engage in debate with people on this. This is where ZIMBOCASH grows as a movement.

Ground rules

With that said, we’ve got some ground rules for community discussions:

1. Be nice to people
2. Allow others to have different views to you
3. Respect the government (we’re not against the government)
4. Ask questions, share your thoughts and tell others

Where should you express your views

As a team we are listening – we’re on facebook, twitter, linkedin. You can also make comments below the blog posts on the website.

We’ll be sending you detail of the key issues that we are talking through as we go along, and we’ll invite you to vote on key issues related to ZIMBOCASH.

Lastly, we’re a diverse team of volunteers working hard behind the scenes to make this happen. We’re working on the look and feel of the website and want to make your experience a great one.

Warm regards and welcome to the ZIMBOCASH community

Philip