This is according to Louis van Staden, Luno’s General Manager responsible for Customer Acquisition, Onboarding and Payments who calls this regulatory step “an incredible moment” for the industry. Van Staden tells the OFM Business Hour, that regulation will likely weed out the bad apples in the country like it has done in Malaysia, where the dodgy players were found to be lacking and battled to keep up. 

Pick n Pay adds crypto as a payment option. 

Following the announcement, Pick n Pay announced that it had greenlit cryptocurrency as a payment option. The giant food retailer revealed that it was testing this in 29 stores up from 10 during its initial pilot programme. Van Staden says Pick n Pay is a pillar of trust in the country and its participation in the industry in this manner, adds weight to the crypto industry.  

The Travel Rule 

When probed on whether the industry will see more regulation, Van Staden makes mention of the trending Travel Rule, which he says is “the need for businesses to disclose certain information around the customers transacting on the platform. So that is basically information around the name and the region of each person transacting”. 

ALSO READ: #OFMBusinessHour - Cryptocurrency rallies due to institutional adoption

Crypto follows global business cycles 

Whilst Luno’s General Manager responsible for Customer Acquisition, Onboarding and Payments acknowledges it’s been aturbulent year for crypto, he notes that as the currency is regulated in varying countries, it will follow the global business cycles and start being impacted by macro-economic factors like for example US dollar strength, amongst others. They are also noticing that in the emerging markets, there is a move to protect crypto from currency devaluation and inflation. 

Also Read: #OFMBusinessHour - To bitcoin or not to bitcoin

FSCA's general exemption

In addition to the declaration, the FSCA has published a general exemption for persons rendering crypto related financial services.

They say the intention of the exemption is:

“- To facilitate transitional arrangements for existing providers of crypto asset activities. The transitional arrangements entail that a person may continue to render financial services in relation to crypto assets without being licensed, provided that such a person applies for a licence under the FAIS Act within the period specified in the exemption. The stipulated period is from 1 June 2023 until 30 November 2023. The exemption will apply until the licence application submitted has been approved or declined; and

- To exempt certain ecosystem participants from the FAIS Act. These participants are crypto asset miners and node operators performing functions in respect of the security and health of the network as well as persons rendering financial services in relation to non-fungible tokens.”

[Media Release]

The FSCA has published the declaration of Crypto Assets as a financial product under the FAIS Act.

The declaration, brings providers of financial services in relation to crypto assets within the FSCA’s regulatory jurisdiction: https://t.co/sUd0Mqu6JE#crypto pic.twitter.com/bsYINvPwUl

— FSCA South Africa (@fscasouthafrica) October 20, 2022 ">

[Media Release]

The FSCA has published the declaration of Crypto Assets as a financial product under the FAIS Act.

The declaration, brings providers of financial services in relation to crypto assets within the FSCA’s regulatory jurisdiction: https://t.co/sUd0Mqu6JE#crypto pic.twitter.com/bsYINvPwUl

— FSCA South Africa (@fscasouthafrica) October 20, 2022

Van Staden explains that the exemption gives everyone some time to adjust to licensing which is fair and just. He anticipates that licensing will take some time, hence the time allocation. 

OFM