South Africa To License 60 Crypto Platforms by Month End
By the end of the month, South Africa will license roughly sixty cryptocurrency platforms, making it one of the first countries on the continent to mandate operating permissions for digital asset exchanges.
More than 300 crypto-asset providers requested authorization, according to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, which offered exchanges until November 30 to apply for licenses or face facing disciplinary action.
According to FSCA commissioner Unathi Kamlana, “We are processing those licensing applications and we’re doing so in a phased kind of manner given the numbers.”
The regulator will instead oversee the companies under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, which focuses on the honesty, integrity, competency, and ability of all financial services providers under its so-called fit-and-proper requirements, rather than developing a separate framework specifically for crypto operators.
“The existing law will cover most gaps, so even if you wait for the Rolls-Royce kind of regulatory framework, you still have those risks,” Kamlana stated.
The largest cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin, rose to an all-time high of US$73 664 on Wednesday because to historically high inflows into US exchange-traded funds linked to the asset.
Renewed interest in the asset class has also helped other cryptocurrencies. Ether has risen by nearly 75% this year and saw a 3.3% gain in transactions on Wednesday.
Fais Act
The regulator will be able to take enforcement action if an operator violates any of the act’s standards, giving customers new safeguards and avenues of redress if crypto exchanges are subject to the Fais Act.
“We will find out as we license and supervise that maybe there are gaps that the current regulatory framework, the Fais Act, cannot close,” he stated. “And when we figure out what those are, we might need to build on that.”
South Africa gave rise to several of the largest trading platforms on the continent, such as Pantera-backed VALR and Luno, which is owned by Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group. Other international platforms, including Binance Holdings, are active in the nation.
