Batch of new licences greets crypto boom

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has issued a batch of new crypto asset service provider (Casp) licences in recent months, bringing the total number of licences issued to 248.

- Ciaran Ryan

One of the key reasons for introducing the Casp licensing regime was to eliminate scams such as Mirror Trading International (MTI), which lured bitcoin holders with bogus promises of earning 10% returns a month.

Another reason is to remove South Africa from the Financial Action Task Force grey list.

The FSCA's issue of new licences comes as bitcoin crashed through the key $100,000 barrier, to trade at $104,000 (R1.86 million) on Monday.

The FSCA started the Casp licensing process in June last year and, by April this year, had issued 75 licences. That figure has now more than trebled, suggesting growing recognition of crypto's role in the future of finance.

The FSCA has received 420 Casp licence applications, of which 248 have been approved and nine declined.

New crypto exchange One of the new licensees is Afridax founded by Frank Leonette.