South Africa considers Bitcoin as Tokens and not as Currency

Pretoria, South Africa: South Africa’s central bank dismisses cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as currency, and rather call them as “Cyber tokens”. The reason for this above said consideration is that cryptocurrencies do not meet the requirement for them to be considered as money.

Francois Groepe, the deputy of South Africa reserve bank said:

“We don’t use the term ‘cryptocurrency’ because it doesn’t meet the requirements of money in the economic sense of the stable means of exchange, a unit of measure and a stable unit of value”

Africa, in general, has been conservative about the spread of Bitcoin. In January, Nigerian Governor Godwin Emefiele said investing in Bitcoin is a “gamble,” while Lesotho’s central bank said a month later that it won’t offer any recourse to investors who lose money on them

Although the perception regarding cryptocurrencies is changing among the masses. Last week, South Africa got their first Bitcoin ATM. Moreover, with the increase in a number of crypto investors and traders, regulators are having a difficult time regulating cryptocurrencies.

Groepe added,

“We want to ensure or establish whether there is still compliance with the relevant financial surveillance or exchange-control regulations”

Source: Bloomberg

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