South Africa is moving with more urgency to stiffen oversight of cryptocurrency assets after a proliferation of scams.<\/p>\n
A new regulatory timeline foresees finalizing a framework in three to six months, after the\u00a0publication of proposals\u00a0earlier in June that requires public comment before approval, according to Kuben Naidoo, chief executive officer of South Africa\u2019s banking regulator known as the Prudential Authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to put in place the regulatory framework quickly,\u201d said Naidoo, who\u2019s also a deputy governor of the South African central bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefining this as a financial product and then developing the regulatory framework is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The approach that\u2019s taking shape means tougher rules could be imminent this year after a jolt of scandals that most recently included\u00a0a suspected Ponzi\u00a0scheme, which resulted in the disappearance of an estimated $3.6 billion (R51 billion) in Bitcoin.<\/p>\n
South African cryptocurrency service providers have been operating unchecked by regulatory powers even as the popularity of the asset class has taken off.<\/p>\n
Last year, the\u00a0collapse\u00a0of Johannesburg-based Mirror Trading International was called the biggest crypto-related scam of 2020 by blockchain data platform Chainalysis.<\/p>\n