The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the financial regulator for South Africa, has approved 59 licence applications from cryptocurrency platforms looking to provide services to locals.

According to a News24 article, Felicity Mabaso, the FSCA divisional executive, disclosed during a finance conference that the regulator had received 355 licence applications, of which 262 were still waiting.

The FSCA gave exchanges and cryptocurrency platforms until 30 November to submit licence applications in response to this surge, failing which they would be subject to regulatory actions.

Due to the large volume of applications, FSCA Commissioner Unathi Kamlana clarified that the application processing is ongoing and done gradually.

FSCA Makes Use of Current Regulations in South Africa

Using South Africa's current Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services, the FSCA has made the decision to Services Act (FAIS) to control the cryptocurrency industry.

Commissioner Kamlana claims that the FAIS offers a strong framework that addresses important facets of the cryptocurrency industry, such as user protections and appropriate enforcement measures. Although the authorised companies' specifics have not been made public, it is anticipated that the licenced corporations will comprise custody service providers and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Payment processors and cryptocurrency brokerage companies will be subject to regulatory supervision as well.

South Africa Is Thinking About Developing New Laws

Since 2021, South Africa has been seriously exploring developing new regulations for the cryptocurrency sector.

The FSCA stated in a report from 2021 that cryptocurrency assets will be subject to South African regulations in a "phased and organised way.

While it was originally anticipated that the framework would be finished by the end of 2022, cryptocurrencies have already been classified as financial assets rather than currency by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).

This categorization is supported by the FSCA, which says that digital assets ought to be handled like financial goods.

As the use of cryptocurrencies grows, South Africa is taking a more assertive stance towards them.

According to a 2017 survey, 47% of South Africans had either made cryptocurrency investments or indicated they would like to.

In the same year, there was a 100% surge in the downloads of Bitcoin wallets in the nation. With 13% of the global market, South Africa ranked third in terms of cryptocurrency ownership in 2020, according to cryptocurrency exchange Luno.

meanwhile, as cryptocurrency acceptance grows, businesses in South Africa are aggressively using cryptocurrency.

Customers can now use cryptocurrencies to make purchases thanks to the introduction of "Pay with Crypto" by South African payments infrastructure company Stitch last year.

Another business, Paycorp, created the CryptoExpress software, which enables users to withdraw cryptocurrency in South African Rands from more than 3,000 ATMs.

Luno, a cryptocurrency exchange, was among the first companies in South Africa to obtain a licence from the Financial Services Commission of Africa (FSCA) last week, enabling it to function as a financial services provider in the nation.