The Central Bank of South Africa (SARB) has issued a discussion paper assessing the benefits and risks of cryptocurrencies. The paper, which was developed in collaboration with a number of government agencies in the country, was published in an official statement on 16 January.
The Government’s statement
In the document titled “Discussion Paper on Cryptoactive Policy Proposals,” the South African government makes it clear that it currently does not want to ban cryptocurrency trading or cryptocurrency payments.
The discussion paper also suggests that all crypto-asset trading platforms, as well as custodian services, payment service providers and crypto-cash machines, must register with the intergovernmental FinTech Working Group (IFWG). The IFWG was recently established by the South African Government with the aim of promoting innovation in fintech while ensuring the smooth functioning of financial markets.
What’s up for companies
According to the announcement, companies associated with Krypto must comply with the requirements of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Anti-Terrorism Financing (CFT) Financial Intelligence Center Act.
The discussion paper was co-developed by several major government agencies. This includes the Financial Intelligence Center (FIC), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the National Treasury (NT), the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the SARB, the central bank from South Africa.
According to the joint statement by the agencies, the document will be publicly available until 15 February 2019.
Regulation of cryptocurrencies and blockchain
In early January, Cointelegraph reported that the South African government had set up a working group to regulate cryptocurrencies and blockchain. The group is expected to publish a final research paper on industry in the course of 2019. All this according to Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni.
In June 2018, SARB announced that it had successfully tested its proof-of-concept (PoC) for an interbank payment system that exchanges Fiat in Quorum, a private Ethereum (ETH) -based private blockchain.