{"id":26796,"date":"2018-12-24T19:22:57","date_gmt":"2018-12-24T19:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=26796"},"modified":"2018-12-24T19:22:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-24T19:22:57","slug":"cameroon-rebels-issue-virtual-currency-to-fund-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=26796","title":{"rendered":"Cameroon rebels issue virtual currency to fund independence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Anglophone separatists in Cameroon<\/a> have announced launching a virtual currency to help fund their campaign for independence and provide humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n

The AmbaCoin, a<\/span>\u00a0bitcoin-like currency based on the blockchain software principle, is named after the co-called Republic of Ambazonia”, a self-declared independent state in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest Regions.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The People of Ambazonia has created AmbaCoin, a tradeable digital token that can be used as a currency, a representation of an asset, a virtual share, a proof of patriotic citizenship,” according to the currency’s website.<\/span><\/p>\n

“All sales of the AmbaCoin will be directed to fund the Ambazonian Cause, to assist Refugees & Internally Displaced Persons, to rebuild homes destroyed by occupying military forces, and to defend communities from the repressive regime of La Republique Du Cameroun.”<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a clock on the currency’s website, the AmbaCoin became operational on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

It said there had been more than 28,000 pre-orders for the currency, a figure that could not be verified independently.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buying one “amba” for the “Ambazonian Crypto Bond” costs 25 US cents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Declared independence last year\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

In October 2017, separatist anglophone leaders declared a “Republic of Ambazonia” in two regions that were incorporated into predominantly French-speaking Cameroon in 1961.<\/span><\/p>\n

The central government in Yaounde launched a crackdown, deploying thousands of troops against the fighters.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 200 members of the security forces and at least 500 civilians have been killed, according to the International Crisis Group think-tank, while the UN estimates that more than 437,000 people have fled their homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two English-speaking regions were previously ruled by Britain as the Southern Cameroons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, anglophones have chafed at perceived discrimination at the hands of the francophone majority, especially in law, education and economic opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Resentment built into demands for a return to Cameroon’s federal state, which then snowballed into a declaration of independence as the situation polarised.<\/span><\/p>\n

The purported state – whose name is taken from Ambas Bay on the coast – also has a flag, a national anthem and a president, but has not been internationally recognised.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anglophone separatists in Cameroon have announced launching a virtual currency to help fund their campaign for independence and provide humanitarian aid. The AmbaCoin, a\u00a0bitcoin-like currency based on the blockchain software principle, is named after the co-called Republic of Ambazonia”, a self-declared independent state in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest Regions. “The People of Ambazonia has created…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":26797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}