cryptocurrency regulation
SA authorities take cautious approach to crypto asset regulation
SA’s authorities are taking a cautious approach to crypto asset regulation – looking to safeguard consumers by focusing their attention on service providers themselves
If a document could roll its eyes dismissively and let out a long, anguished sigh, the one compiled by SA regulators on cryptocurrencies would do so. Put together by the intergovernmental fintech working group (IFWG), the "Consultation Paper on Policy Proposals for Crypto Assets" does little to hide the regulators’ discomfort with the concept of cryptocurrencies. The IFWG’s ambivalence is clear. It rejects the term "cryptocurrencies", insisting instead that these electronic tokens be called "crypto assets". For a start, they have been used as commodities and securities rather than just currency. They further fall short on the currency measure because they are not a particularly good or stable store of value, are only accepted as a medium of exchange in select circles and aren’t widely used as a unit of accounting. While no financial regulator wants to give control of its currency to entities beyond the reaches of its authority, authorities have to adapt, given the increasing use of ...
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