Published : 6 years ago, on 27/06/2018

Documentary will examine the current economic crisis in Zimbabwe and how digital currency is uniquely positioned to help

Frame 48, a creative collective specializing in film and commercial production, in collaboration with Dash, the top digital currency for payments, has announced the launch of Starting From Scratch, a documentary centered on how blockchain technology and digital currency can help improve the chaotic economic environment in Zimbabwe.

The project was funded by Dash’s Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), a group of Masternode holders that vote to fund proposals with Dash’s treasury. The documentary focuses specifically on Kuvacash, a Dash-powered money system designed to provide Zimbabwe with its first-ever peer-to-peer localized digital currency payment service for anyone with a mobile phone-number.  By accelerating the adoption of digital currency, Kuvacash and Dash are providing a viable solution to Zimbabwe’s current crippling cash crisis.

Seth Josephson, Creative Producer at Frame 48, said: “We were approached by a few members of the Dash community to take a look at the DAO, a global group of Masternode holders that vote on proposals paid for by the Dash blockchain. The unique governance model has funded conferences, sports sponsorships, and university research programs, so when we learned about the ongoing political crisis and resulting economic instability in Zimbabwe, we decided to submit a proposal to the Dash Community to create a documentary that would help educate the broader public about what was happening there, and how organizations like Kuvacash and Dash are working to fix it.”

“We were particularly interested in true use-case scenarios for digital currency as a means for day-to-day exchanges. The majority of investment in digital currency has been speculative in nature, but there are many organizations around the globe that are working with blockchain technology to improve people’s lives in tangible ways. With Starting From Scratch, we are hoping to shed some light on the potential that blockchain technology has to accelerate the affluence of people who have not had a way to properly store value in over a decade. The Dash DAO has been particularly interesting to me, as they are consistently voting to invest in developing nations,” added Josephson.

After Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation crisis of 2008, thousands of citizens lost their entire personal savings, leaving many looking for alternative ways to secure their existing assets. This was not the first time Zimbabwe’s economy had struggled, as the national currency was re-denominated three times prior to 2008, with each representing a significant loss of value. EcoCash, provided by telecom company Econet, has become the primary means by which people transact today, and to purchase anything internationally citizens must buy USD or other fiat at a steep fee on the black market. The Zimbabwean Government has tried to address the crisis by issuing bond notes ostensibly pegged to the U.S. dollar, but this has not solved the issue as even the bond notes continue to lose value, which is why international digital currency such as Dash can help secure the value of people’s money.

Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core Group, said: “I’m excited to see a documentary educating the public on the benefits of this very nascent and sometimes misunderstood industry. With the debut of Starting From Scratch, we have the ability to show the world how digital currencies can dramatically improve the lives of people within struggling economies by reducing the friction of commerce and offering a secure and accessible means to store assets. The progress that Kuvacash has achieved in Zimbabwe – creating a service that directly addresses local challenges – demonstrates the enormous potential of this technology. We hope this will be used as a prime example for other organizations looking to implement similar projects to combat volatile economic conditions.”

AndreikoKerdemelidis, Co-founder of Kuvacash, added: “Kuvacash is a set of services that make it easy for individuals to transact Dash in similar ways to the e-money systems currently available in Zimbabwe. Everyone from the street trader through to the expat sending funds back to their family should find Kuvacash a convenient way to make or receive their day-to-day payments. With our agent network, we also provide the ability for people to easily switch in and out of USD cash at any time, without having to wait in queues or use a bank.”