The country’s regulators said they plan to approve up to 4 digital asset companies by April.
- South Africa has begun issuing licenses to cryptocurrency companies, with Luno and Zignaly being among the first to receive regulatory approval.
- The country's regulator said about 60 companies will be approved in April.
South Africa’s financial regulator has begun issuing cryptocurrency licenses, with trading platform Luno and decentralized social investing marketplace Zignaly among the first companies to receive approval.
Luno said it has been approved as a financial services provider under the country’s Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS) 2002. Luno PTY LTD now appears on the FSCA Register of Authorised Entities.
Zignaly told CoinDesk it has been granted a Category 2 – Full Financial Services Provider (FSP) license and appears on the FSCA registry as Merritt Administrators PTY LTD.
South African regulators began accepting license applications from cryptocurrency companies in June 2023, after passing legislation to include cryptocurrencies in the scope of regulated financial activities in the country. The FSCA has promised to impose heavy fines on companies that attempt to operate without proper approval.
Around 60 companies are expected to receive regulatory approval in the short term.
“This is a positive step for both the cryptocurrency industry and South Africans. Customer compliance, safety and security have driven our growth from the beginning and will continue to be our top priority as we expand our offering and launch more features and products for financial institutions,” Christo de Wit, Luno’s country manager for South Africa, said in the statement.
Zignaly’s Category 2 license will allow the firm to engage in discretionary fund management. “Zignaly is authorized to make investment decisions on behalf of investors and, importantly, act as custodian of its clients’ funds,” the company said in a press release. “This is essentially a full asset management license, comparable to the licenses held by TradFi giants such as Blackrock or Vanguard.”
Zignali said the license will also help it “get a head start” in expanding regulation to decentralized finance. In 2022, the company signed a $5000 million funding agreement with a Luxembourg fund.