Zimbabwe. A prime use case for Japanese yen?

"At the height of the country’s economic crisis, Zimbabweans had to carry plastic bags bulging with banknotes to buy basic goods. Prices were rising at least twice a day."

Japanese yen is often cited as being volatile. Its never been anywhere near as volatile as that ^ (at least not in the last 2 years)

The Yen is volatile? Except for the last two years, there hasnt been any valuation change for a decade.

When I went in 2008 it was 100 yen to a dollar almost exactly, made the conversation rate dead easy. 100 yen is now worth 80¢. That change was entirely US based?

From 1995 to 2012 Japanese inflation was essentially zero: http://www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/japan/historic-infla...

Yeah, all the poor people without access to electricity would love Bitcoin.

Most people in Zimbabwe have electricity. Zimbabwe has 97% mobile penetration: http://afkinsider.com/20015/report-zimbabwe-has-97-mobile-pe... Last time I checked their phones didn't run on magic, but on electricity :) And all you need to use Bitcoin is a cellphone (a $20 smartphone).

(No I am not seriously suggesting Zimbabwe uses Bitcoin. I am just pointing out you seem to incorrectly think all people in African countries live in huts or something.)

> Most people in Zimbabwe have electricity. ... you seem to incorrectly think all people in African countries live in huts

I know people who live in good houses in affluent parts of one of the largest cities in South Africa, and they don't have electricity 24/7 http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za/loadshedding/description.

You don't need to have electricity 24/7 everywhere, you only need it in one place in a village for few hours so that everyone can get their phones charged on a regular basis.

There are exceptions to every rule, in Zimbabwe you could have 24/7 electricity and a fibre optic internet connection in some areas, and I can't even get fibre to my place in South Africa.

It's quite likely your friend uses a generator or inverter. It is quite likely 24/7.

Load shedding's occurrences have also only been something more recent (past few months).

Generators are still fairly rare in the suburbs. Load shedding has been in SA for several years now.

It's been there for several years conceptually as a plan to deal with limited capacity. Meaning it comes and goes.

For the good part of the last 3 years it's hardly been there (so unnoticeable one would probably say power is hardly/never cut). Its just been more impactful in the past few months & the last few months of last year.

Generators/Inverters aren't rare in the suburbs or in the further outlying areas. At least not anymore. Not everyone, but one could hear someone else's close by/a neighbors.

Not even just poor people, almost all people have trouble getting electricity there. Of course, excluding the politically connected and powerful.

</used_to_live_there>

More like a prime use case for foreign currency. Most affluent people in Zimbabwe use South African Rand or US Dollars to conduct busies.

Most everybody. The Zim dollar is not legal tender any more; it's not printed any more. This is just the bank trying to get rid of its reserves.

Sometimes Botswana Pula and Zambian Kwatsha are also used (esp. near the borders) but ATMs dispense USD.

> Zimbabwe. A prime use case for Bitcoin?

As is well known and is mentioned in the article, what they actually used was other countries' currencies. Namely the South African Rand and the US Dollar. South Africa is the economically largest neighbour, and is stable by comparison. The US Dollar is the "global reserve".