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Johannesburg Stock Exchange Rejects Bitcoin ETF Application, Cites Lack of Regulatory Framework
14.6.2021
South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has rejected a request by the asset management firm, Sygnia, to list a new bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). In justifying its rejection of the latest proposal by Sygnia, the JSE cites the “lack of a regulatory framework...
South Africa Working Group Releases New Position Paper Calling for Regulation of Crypto Asset Providers
13.6.2021
South Africa’s Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) has a released new position paper that calls for the regulation of the country’s cryptocurrency ecosystem. In the document, the IFWG, which is a creation of the South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB), recommends “a staged...
Sygnia CEO criticizes Elon Musk for alleged Bitcoin pump and dump
11.6.2021
“What we have seen with Bitcoin is price manipulation by one very powerful and influential individual," said Magda Wierzycka
South African Crypto Exchanges Confirm Receiving Request for Client Data From Tax Collection Body
3.6.2021
Three leading cryptocurrency exchanges from South Africa recently confirmed receiving a request for client data from the country’s revenue collector. In a joint statement, the exchanges, (namely Altcointrader, Luno, and Valr) said this request, which targets a “selection...
South Africa Reserve Bank Commences Retail CBDC Feasibility Study
27.5.2021
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) says it has commenced a feasibility study for a general-purpose retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The study, which the SARB expects to conclude in 2022, will focus on the issuance of a domestic CBDC that can be used by consumers in South Africa...
South Africa's central bank begins preliminary study for retail CBDC
25.5.2021
The South African Reserve Bank has begun exploratory studies on central bank digital currencies
South African Crypto Holders Urged to Approach Tax Body Before It Descends on Them
19.5.2021
A South Africa-based tax expert, David Lesperance, says with the country’s revenue collector now closing in on cryptocurrencies, holders must now take the initiative and approach South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) before it descends on them. Lesperance argues that by making the first move...
Report: South African Taxes and Smuggling Behind Gold’s Price Distortions in Zimbabwe
18.5.2021
Despite gold’s longstanding status as an alternative store of value, the commodity continues to experience unusual price variations in countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe. In turn, such price variances, as well as the rampant smuggling of the commodity, are distorting the precious...
Mastercard Payment Index: More Consumers in Three African Countries Plan to Use Crypto Based Payment Methods
12.5.2021
According to a recent Mastercard payment index report, the Covid-19 related lockdowns helped spread the use of cryptocurrency in three African countries, namely Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. The report also reveals that a greater number of consumers from these countries are “likely to...
South African Tax Collector Targeting Crypto Investors in Its Bid to Raise Extra Revenues
10.5.2021
Latest reports from South Africa suggest that the country’s tax agency will now be targeting cryptocurrency investors as it attempts to increase the total value of revenues collected. Alongside high net worth individuals and offshore investors, digital currency holders now constitute an area...
South African Regulator Apologizes to Crypto Firm After Issuing Then Withdrawing a Warning in Less Than 24 Hours
9.5.2021
South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has apologized to a Cape Town-based crypto start, Ovex, less than 24 hours after warning that the firm was operating outside the law. Ovex Does Not Require Licence From FSCA In its May 7 retraction, the financial watchdog said...
Venture Capitalist Proposes a Single Decentralized Crypto as a Solution to Boost Africa’s Inter-Regional Trade
6.5.2021
South African venture capitalist, Michael Jordaan, recently suggested that a single decentralized cryptocurrency may be the solution that brings great benefits to inter-regional trade and investment in Africa. According to Jordaan, who is also the former CEO of one of South Africa’s leading...
South African Women Lose Money to Crypto Scammer Who Convinced Them That Botswana Pula Coins Are Bitcoins
1.5.2021
A group of South African investors recently confessed to losing money to a brazen scammer after he convinced them to buy and hold nearly worthless physical coins. The coins, which are denominated in the Bostwana pula currency, were initially sold to a group of South African women back in 2019 when...
MTI CEO and Wife Issued With Provisional Sequestration Order by South African High Court
27.4.2021
A South African High Court recently served Mirror Trading International (MTI)’s Johann and Nerina Steynberg with a provisional sequestration order. The court’s decision follows a successful court application by the five joint provisional liquidators of the now-defunct online bitcoin...
Sale of MTI Bitcoins in South Africa Briefly Wipes out Premium Buyers
22.4.2021
The premium or arbitrage gap on bitcoin in South Africa recently turned negative following the offloading of coins worth over $75 million by liquidators of MTI. As a result of the temporary supply glut, buying bitcoins on local South African exchanges briefly became cheaper than buying on overseas...
Another South African Company Reveals Plans to List a Crypto ETF on Local Stock Exchange
21.4.2021
Fresh reports from South Africa suggest another local company, Sygnia, is set to apply to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) to list a new cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF). This application will be the second time Sygnia has attempted to list the crypto ETF. A similar application...
Crypto Exchange Luno Says South Africa’s Crypto Trading Dominated by Young People
19.4.2021
Luno, one of Africa’s pioneering crypto exchanges, has revealed that South Africa’s cryptocurrency trading is largely dominated by young people with those under the age of 29 accounting for 40% of transactions. The exchange, which claims to have added nearly a million new South African...
Co-Founder of South Africa’s Crypto Index Fund Reveals the Plan to Launch Country’s First Bitcoin ETF
16.4.2021
Earle Loxton, the cofounder of EC10 (formerly DCX Capital) the institution behind the South African crypto index fund, says plans are afoot to launch the country’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ETF is expected to offer South African institutional investors an indirect way of getting...
How African Users Can Buy and Trade Bitcoin Cash Without Facing KYC or Geoblocking Hurdles
13.4.2021
Africa remains the home to a large proportion of the world’s population that is unbanked according to a 2017 World Bank Global Index survey. Many of those who are unbanked cite their lack of official identification particulars as one of the main reasons for their predicament. Cryptos...
P2P Bitcoin Trade Volumes Surge in Kenya and Ghana but Nigeria Still Dominates
11.4.2021
According to new data, peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin trade volumes in Kenya and Ghana surged in Q1 of 2021, with the two countries now ranked second and third respectively. On the other hand, volumes in South Africa, which occupied second place in 2020, dropped marginally. Consequently, South Africa...