BoU issues warning over digital currency firm

In its promotional videos, One Coin digital money promises potential investors a single currency that can be used for borderless financial transactions.

The company, which the Central Bank has warned Ugandans about, also shows several men withdrawing large sums of money from ATM machines in Europe and other countries.

The company which has just recently moved to Uganda and has an operations base on the fourth floor of Mukwano Courts on Buganda Road in Kampala follows the enticing videos on their Facebook page with pictures of a huge pile of sh50,000 notes.

It also features pictures of men and women counting large sums of dollars and other international currencies under the phrase: "When the money starts pouring in, that's when people realize you were always right."

The pictures elicit an enthusiastic response from a fan who boldly declares: "Am selling coins at 5 euros each, inbox me if you want to buy!"

One Coin is just one form of rapidly expanding type of money called cryptocurrency; a digital currency that operates without the oversight of Central Banks around the world.

It instead relies on encryption techniques to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of fund.

Bank of Uganda (BoU) has issued a statement warning the public that anyone who invests their hard earned savings in cryptocurrency forms such as One Coin, Bitcoin, Ripple, Peercoin, Namecoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Bytecoin, Primecoin, Blackcoin and any other forms of digital currency does so at their own risk since they are not licensed by the Bank of Uganda.

"The company is still in its formative stages but is aggressively encouraging members to buy digital money and promising very high returns and rewards on a 'first-come-first-served' basis" The Bank of Uganda statement says about One Coin.

"The public is strongly encouraged to do business transactions with only licensed financial institutions" the statement adds.