South Africa has begun licensing crypto exchanges as applications pile up.

South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has approved 59 license applications from cryptocurrency platforms, Reuters reports. They will be controlled according to the existing law.

FSCA has a total of 355 applicants out of 262 license applications for crypto exchanges in progress, Reuters quoted FSCA Divisional Executive Officer Felicity Mabaso as saying. 59 approvals were given on March 12. According to Bloomberg, crypto companies have applied by a deadline of November 30, 2023 and will be regulated under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS).

The law provides new consumer protections and allows regulators to take enforcement actions. It allows the Financial Supervision Department of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to carry out supervision. FSCA Commissioner Unati Kamlana told Bloomberg:

“In licensing and regulation, we recognize that there are loopholes that may not be covered by the current regulatory framework, FAIS Act. And when we know what those are, we may need to build on that.

South Africa is said to be the first African country to license crypto exchanges. In the year It intends to create a separate regulatory framework for crypto when it starts the regulatory process in 2021. Those plans were still in place in 2022, and the rules were expected to be finalized that year. The SARB stated that it is not a currency but a financial asset in the regulations to be issued in 2023. It has finally been declared a financial product by the FSCA.

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In July, the FSCA commissioner said that 20 applications had been received before the November deadline, and that enforcement measures such as fines and closures would be taken against crypto exchanges operating without a license after the deadline. He said the FSCA had received 128 applications in December and 72 would be considered between December and March 14.

In February, South Africa's National Treasury said it would implement a policy change to include stablecoins in the definition of crypto assets in its annual budget review.

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