In 2022, will South Africa finally have crypto regulation?

<p>What local rules might look like, and what crypto exchanges will have to do to stay afloat.</p> <p>Binance, the world's largest international cryptocurrency exchange by volume, announced at the end of last year that it had withdrawn its application for a licence to operate a cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore due to regulatory concerns. While the news may have gone unnoticed in many other countries, it provides food for thought for everyone involved in the crypto business.</p> <p>Different countries have taken various approaches to regulating the crypto business. Firstly, by outright banning cryptocurrencies and related transactions; or, secondly, by adopting highly severe and burdensome rules from the start without a clear grasp of the situation. Finally, some jurisdictions have chosen not to regulate the industry at all, with the goal of gradually enacting laws as they gain a better grasp of the technology and its implications for fiscal, economic, and regulatory contexts.</p> <p>Is it better to regulate or not? The question is this:</p> <p>The debate over whether or not to regulate the crypto business is still raging, but the majority of educated stakeholders believe that a regulated environment is necessary to help the industry flourish while also providing consumers with protection and redress.</p> <p>In terms of growth, a regulated crypto economy might boost overall acceptance and give birth to a new sub-sector of publicly traded funds with crypto as their underlying assets, similar to what we've seen with the ETF craze abroad.</p> <p>Nonetheless, it is critical that these rules should not suffocate innovation.</p> <p>We have no idea what the local crypto business rules will look like right now. However, rumours have circulated that officials are going to implement new rules in the second or third quarter of 2022. The key concern is whether virtual asset service providers ("VASPs") are flexible enough to organise their operations in such a way that they can comply with these laws and regulations