🚨 Crypto Chaos in South Africa: SARB Sounds the Alarm! 🚨

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Well, I say, old bean, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has gone and ruffled a few feathers with its latest financial stability report. Apparently, those pesky crypto assets and stablecoins are giving them the pip, what? 🤑 Emerging risks, they call it-quite the kerfuffle, if you ask me!

And all this fuss comes just as the good folks of South Africa are embracing crypto like a long-lost chum. Rather bad timing, eh? 😅

Crypto Assets: A “Blighter of a Risk” to the Old Financial Stability

In their Financial Stability Review, dashed off on the 25th of November, the SARB chaps pointed their quills at digital assets and stablecoins-lumped under the rather fancy term technology-enabled financial innovation-as a “new risk.” Tsk, tsk, just when everyone’s getting the hang of it! 🤷‍♂️

Now, the central bank types noted that Bitcoin (BTC), along with those other rascals like Ripple (XRP) and Ethereum (ETH), have been the go-to for crypto trading. But hold on to your hats! There’s been a jolly big shift as South Africans are now flocking to USD-backed stablecoins like bees to honey. 🍯

Stablecoin trading volumes have shot up like a rocket, from a mere R4 billion ($116 million) in 2022 to a whopping R80 billion ($4.66 billion) by October 2025. The SARB eggheads reckon it’s all down to stablecoins being less of a rollercoaster ride than their unbacked crypto cousins. 🛤️

South Africans and Crypto: A Match Made in Economic Woes

The SARB didn’t mince words, labeling crypto assets and stablecoins as a structural and perpetual nuisance to the country’s financial stability. With the economy doing the financial equivalent of a three-legged race-low growth, high unemployment, and debt-service costs-it’s no wonder households are feeling the pinch. From 2020 to 2024, South Africa’s economic growth averaged a measly 0.39%. Blimey! 😱

While the COVID-19 shindig didn’t help, there are deeper issues at play-chronic unemployment, reliance on social grants, crumbling infrastructure, and a shrinking tax base. It’s enough to make one long for a stiff drink! 🥃

Given all this, it’s hardly a surprise that South Africans are turning to crypto like it’s the last lifeboat on the Titanic. 🛳️

The country’s infrastructure-electricity, rail, ports, water, and municipal services-has taken a proper battering. They’re generating less power, moving fewer goods, and handling less cargo than they did in 2019. It’s all gone a bit pear-shaped, hasn’t it? 🍐

Despite being removed from the FATF greylist in October 2025 (after a brief stint on it in 2023), South Africa remains on the EU’s list of high-risk jurisdictions. Toss in political tensions and natural disasters, and you’ve got a right old mess. 🌪️

Regulatory Framework? More Like a Regulatory Farce!

According to the SARB, the number of users on the top three crypto exchanges-Luno, VALR, and Ovex-has ballooned to 7.8 million by July 2025, up from 4.3 million in 2022. That’s a lot of folks dodging the old Exchange Control Regulations, what? 🚀

“Due to their exclusively digital – and therefore borderless – nature, crypto assets can be used to circumvent the provisions of the Exchange Control Regulations,” the report quipped, rather dryly. 🌐

The SARB also pointed out that crypto assets are a bit of a nuisance when it comes to payments and settlements. And in October 2025, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) noted that South Africa’s regulatory framework for crypto is about as complete as a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing. 🧩

The SARB is now teaming up with the National Treasury to whip up a framework for cross-border crypto transactions and is giving the Exchange Control Regulations a much-needed spruce-up to include crypto assets. About time, too! ⏳

The report warned:

“…without transparent, consistent and reliable data on crypto assets − along with their adoption, use and interlinkages with the traditional financial system − risks may build up undetected.” 🕵️‍♂️

And it didn’t stop there:

“The South African financial system’s vulnerability will likely continue to increase until the existing gaps in the South African crypto asset regulatory framework have been closed.” 🚧

So, there you have it, old sport. Crypto in South Africa: a tale of economic woe, regulatory chaos, and a dash of financial derring-do. What a lark! 🎢

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2025-11-28 09:56