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Plans To Regulate Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency has become a real market disruptor for staid financial institutions. It has also made it hard for countries to get their slice of the tax pie and to regulate how much currency is moving around (which is part of the entire design of cryptocurrency). 

Around the globe, countries are trying to figure out what to do about these “currencies” that are, these days, more like commodities. It has become more and more popular to buy and sell cryptocurrency than to mine it.

Locally, a plan is underway to try to regulate the organisations and front end providers who help consumers make use of and trade cryptocurrency (rather than those who mine crypto).

‘the South American country of El Salvador has announced they plan to make Bitcoin one of their official state currencies’

In International News

Internationally Crypto has been on everyone’s mind as Elon Musk has been seen to manipulate values and Dogecoin in particular has made a lot of people a lot of money suddenly.

Also making news is how the South American country of El Salvador has announced they plan to make Bitcoin one of their official state currencies.

CASPs – What are They?

The developing local plan, as recently published by the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group, is to try and regulate only the crypto asset service providers (CASPs) and bring them under the regulation of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act as what is officially called ‘accountable institutions’.

This would require CASPs to register with Government and make it so that they have to hand in reports about customers and report suspicious transactions (and big transactions). This will enable SARS to make sure they get their cut and the police and other authorities to check for suspicious transactions.

‘This will enable SARS to make sure they get their cut and the police and other authorities to check for suspicious transactions’

While there is, naturally, some pushback to trying to regulate something designed to be independent of outside control, focusing on those who say they trade in cryptocurrency has its advantages. Many South Africans have already been taken in by scams where fraudsters make use of the word “Crypto” or perhaps mention one of the big cryptocurrencies like “Bitcoin” in their name and bamboozle customers out of money in ponzi scams.

If parties like these could fall under the authority of an agency or authority (regulator) then law enforcement could hopefully take swift action against any scams.