The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has granted approval to 75 institutions to be licensed as crypto asset service providers.
The full list, including the likes of Peresec, Unum Capital and Luno, authorises a range of well-known and lesser-known entities to provide crypto services across three main authorised activities: advice, intermediary services, and investment management.
There are various categories of licence with some entities allowed to conduct all three activities, while some are restricted to just two or even one authorised activity.
In October 2022, the FSCA and Prudential Authority (PA), SA's two chief financial services regulators, designated crypto assets as financial products in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.
While that took effect immediately, crypto service providers were granted exemption by regulators as long as they applied for a licence between 1 June 2023 and end-November 2023.
The FSCA said it has received 374 applications to date and that it will provide updates when they have been processed and approved.
The FSCA defines crypto assets as a digital representation of value that is not issued by a central bank but is capable of being traded, transferred or stored electronically by natural and legal persons for the purpose of payment, investment and other uses. Such assets apply cryptographic techniques and make use of distributed ledger technology.
It added that its licensing powers are limited to the authorisation and supervision of providers only insofar as they render financial services related to crypto assets.
'This authorisation does not include the recognition of crypto assets as legal tender or 'cryptocurrency'. Any media reports implying otherwise are therefore incorrect as the South African Reserve Bank does not currently recognise crypto assets as currency.'
