These are the 75 crypto services approved by the FSCA in South Africa – BusinessTech
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has clarified that it has thus far approved 75 institutions to be licenced as crypto asset service providers (CASPs), with 374 licence applications being received to
date.
This follows numerous media statements where institutions have claimed that they are either the first or only institutions to be licenced as CASPs under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act in South Africa.
The full list of approved CASPs (as of 23 April 2024) are:
“The public is reminded that the FSCA’s licensing powers are limited to the authorisation and supervision of CASPs only insofar as they render financial services related to crypto assets as defined under the FAIS Act,” such as advice, intermediary and investment management services, said the FSCA.
“This authorisation does not include the recognition of crypto assets as legal tender or “cryptocurrency” [and] any media reports implying otherwise are therefore incorrect as the South African Reserve Bank does not currently recognise crypto assets as currency,” added the authority.
The licensing process for CASPs began at the beginning of June 2023. “Existing institutions that were rendering financial services relating to crypto assets were required to submit their licence applications by 30 November 2023,” said the FSCA.
The authority is continuing to receive and consider applications from new and existing CASPs and said that it will provide updates as applications are processed and approved.
According to the FSCA, crypto assets are defined as a digital representation of value that:
- Is not issued by a central bank but is capable of being traded, transferred or stored electronically by natural and legal persons for the purpose of payment, investment and other forms of utility;
- Applies cryptographic techniques; and
- Uses distributed ledger technology.
Read: Financial watchdog to licence 60 crypto platforms by month-end in South Africa
