Japan has fast become the BitCoin Capital of the World and in so doing many of its companies have now opened their doors to Bitcoin transactions including the much adored second-hand car sales site BeForward.
Back in May of this year, the Japanese Government enacted a bill to regulate operators of the virtual currency (BitCoin) by ensuring they all register with its Financial Services Agency. The enactment of the bill saw BitCoin become “legally permissible to be used in making payments and an asset that can be transferred digitally” restoring trust in the virtual currency to the point where you can even pay your utility bills in BitCoin in Japan.
So with Bitcoin now legally allowed in Japan, some companies there are now accepting international purchases in BitCoin, and this includes BeForward. Local BitCoin exchange operator BitFinance is now actively facilitating the purchase of vehicles from Beforward in Bitcoin.
The purchase can go one of two ways:
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BitFinance facilitates the transaction for you
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You purchase BitCoin from BitFinance and conduct your own transaction
According to BitFinance, the steps involved in conducting the transaction are as follows:
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The customer requests to make the payment of their car in bitcoin and receive an invoice.
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The customer transfers the amount to BitFinance’s bank account. BitFinance will charge a 10% fee to facilitate the transaction so the customer should include the 10% fee when they transfer the funds.
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The customer also has the option to pay via cash or Ecocash, there is no added incentive over which platform you make the payment on.
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BitFinance will pay the invoice amount within a period of 48 hours and the customer will receive confirmation from both BitFinance and BeForward.
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In some cases, BitFinance may fail to source the bitcoin required to make the payment within the 48 hour period. In that instant, the customer can choose to wait a little bit longer or have their money refunded to them. If the customer chooses to wait a little bit longer, BitFinance will liaise with BeForward to keep the invoice open. If the customer chooses to get their money refunded to them, BitFinance will send it back. The 10% charge will be included in your refund.
BitFinance charges the 10% due to the price of bitcoin in Zimbabwe, which is usually 5% to 10% higher in Zimbabwe than it is in Japan. This difference is reflective of the high demand for bitcoin in Zimbabwe.
BitFinance’s reason for this exchange rate discrepancy can be viewed here.
Since its introduction into the local market, there hasn’t been clarity of how you will actually utilize the Bitcoins once you purchase them. So now, with the already established second-hand market in Zimbabwe, Bitcoin may be a sensible option to make the international transfers instead of going through hassles of local banks who may or may not facilitate your transfer depending on their mood that day.
The RBZ had already condemned the use of BitCoins and it still remains unregulated in Zimbabwe so locally there are little to no BitCoin transactions happening besides peer-to-peer exchanges and once off sales/purchases.
- Techzim