"Digital currencies are going at a significant upward rate, which has led to the diversion of Egyptian investors from the stock market to electronic currencies," said Ahmed Saleh, an investor in the global cryptocurrency.
Since the lightning jumps in the prices of the famous Bitcoin currency last October, a noticeable mass migration began by speculative amateurs with their money from the stock exchange to the new currency market;
According to Saleh told Al-Jazeera Net.
What increased their confidence in the digital currency market was the entry of international companies and major investors such as Elon Musk, owner of Tesla (Tesla) for the manufacture of electric cars, and his announcement that the gains he achieved in currencies, chiefly Bitcoin in a month, did not achieve it in a year from Tesla, in addition to making available Company Paypal "Paypal" the ability to buy and sell using digital currencies.
What are the most important digital currencies in general, and the most important in terms of circulation among Egyptians?
And why did they resort to it?
What did its dealers achieve a while ago?
What are the most important difficulties facing them, especially when liquidating those currencies and transferring them to money in light of the tight control by the security authorities on the foreign exchange entering Egypt?
The volume of transactions in Egypt
4% of internet users in Egypt own some kind of global digital currencies, according to a report issued by "We Are Social".
According to the latest report issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the number of Internet users in Egypt has exceeded 62 million, meaning that nearly two and a half million Egyptians own digital currencies.
Types of currencies
About the types of digital currencies, Emil Fadi - one of the two dealers in digital currencies - reveals to us the most famous types in terms of global dealings. Bitcoin tops the list as it is the first cryptocurrency launched in the world and the most famous ever, followed by - according to a statement by Fadi to Al Jazeera Net - currency. Ethereum, which is the strongest in Bitcoin competition, and is distinguished by being without a broker.
As well as the currency of Ripple (Ripple), which has the advantage of an open source payment network and frees its dealers from the restrictions of money access from banks, credit cards or PayPal, and gives them the ability to transfer local funds to Ripple, and transfer them through sending to other parties, as global banks have become dependent On them in the transfers between them, according to the same speaker.
Fadi points to two other electronic currencies that are receiving interest from speculators, namely "Litecoin", which is a global open source decentralized network that can be sent to anyone in the world, with a very small conversion cost, and the "cardano" cryptocurrency.
Trusted groups
Investors in electronic currency speculation - Egyptians and Arabs - were keen to launch groups on social networking sites, especially Facebook, to communicate with each other, transfer experiences, information and expertise, as well as agreeing on buying and selling and currency exchange.
Among the most famous of these groups are "Bitcoin Egypt", "Bitcoin Volt Egypt", "Forum for Training Arabs" and "Cryptocurrency Mining", among which the number of its members exceeded 50 thousand, and the operations are carried out within them through a reliable intermediary with the administration of Facebook groups.
Amr Zakaria, who entered the cryptocurrency market since 2016, praised the idea of digital currency groups on Facebook;
Stressing that he lost at the beginning of his dealings because he could not find anyone to guide him, in addition to the scarcity of information.
Zakaria confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net that he was resorting to foreign websites to try to understand this new market until he was able to determine its nature and the mechanisms for preserving the gains, selling and withdrawing in a timely manner.
He added that he was able to compensate for his first losses and achieved fairly large gains, especially from Bitcoin, but he still had not achieved his ambition yet to transfer currencies to the category of the rich, as he put it with a smile.
Migration to the future of investment
"I withdrew my money that I was pursuing shares of companies on the Egyptian Stock Exchange without taking out gains that satisfy me, and I sold an apartment that I own - other than the one in which I live - in an attempt to catch up with the Bitcoin market, and then I got acquainted with other currencies."
This is how the investor started with those currencies, Haitham Talaat.
Talat added in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that investing in digital currencies is a migration for the future of investment, but it needs what he called in the Egyptian dialect "the base heart", and it is meant by those who can dispense with the invested amount and not be in a hurry to withdraw or get rid of their currencies by simply rising in currency rates. Owned by.
Bitcoin began to rise since last October, and little by little it made successive jumps until it reached from 11 thousand dollars to 61 thousand dollars per unit, and those who got rid of the currency early when it reached 20 thousand and then 30 thousand lost a lot and became regretful about selling, according to the spokesman. Himself.
Mining and monument
Umm Malika, which acts as a mediator between dealers in digital currencies, warned of the scams that new dealers may be exposed to, especially those who convince their victims that they are working in the field of currency mining.
Umm Malika explained to Al-Jazeera Net the meaning of currency mining, as it is done by computer and has special specifications and continuous electrical energy consumption throughout the day until small parts of Bitcoin or other currencies are harvested.
The young man was able to deceive dozens of citizens in Cairo by luring them into the mining process through a company with headquarters and branches in different regions, and he collected millions of pounds and then disappeared and the company closed its offices, she said.
Monetization of currencies
None of those whom we have contacted have expressed any complaints regarding the process of selling, buying or exchanging cryptocurrencies, or any security harassment when converting these currencies or withdrawing them from electronic wallets or even banks.
The mechanism of dealing between the broker and the investor is to transfer currencies through the platform to the broker's account on the same platform, and then the broker transfers against it in Egyptian pounds to the investor's bank account or by personal interview and the corresponding amount is delivered directly.
Central bank position
However, on the legal side, the Egyptian President approved the new Central Bank Law, which prohibited in its Article 206 the establishment or operation of platforms for the issuance or circulation of cryptocurrencies or digital money or promoting them without obtaining a license from the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, in accordance with the rules and procedures that he specifies.
The former economic and parliamentary expert Basant Fahmy believed that the purpose of the legislator in drafting this article specifically opened the door to dealing with digital currencies in the future, despite the lack of clarity of vision regarding these currencies, especially since the executive regulations of the new law have not yet been issued.
She added in press statements that the situation in Egypt is complex and different from many countries, and the issue of approving digital currencies needs many measures, foremost of which is a comprehensive and unified electronic link between all governorates and institutions in the country, and linking all of this to the world, and this is the project in which the Egyptian government is pursuing But it needs some time to finish.
The difference in the fatwa between Egypt and Malaysia
Religiously, the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa issued a fatwa prohibiting dealing in Bitcoin, stating that "after extensive research and reference to economists and parties related to the issue of electronic currencies, especially Bitcoin in buying, selling, licensing and so on, it is forbidden according to Sharia."
In a contrary position, the Advisory Board of Islamic Sharia - affiliated to the Securities Commission in Malaysia - recommended that investing in cryptocurrencies and trading them through registered trading platforms is permissible.