The Financial Conduct Authority of South Africa (FSCA) has warned users against dealing with the FTX and ByBit cryptocurrency exchanges, as they do not have a license to provide services in the country.
The FSCA released a statement urging the public to be cautious of the Bahamas-based trading floor FTX. The agency clarified that under the South African Financial Advice and Intermediation Act of 2002 (the “FAIS Act”), FTX is not authorized to provide financial advice or intermediation services to nationals.
In addition, FTX has not received local regulatory approval to operate CFDs and financial instruments through which South African investors can speculate on short-term fluctuations in crypto assets.
The agency said its attempts to contact FTX were unsuccessful. However, Exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried wrote on Twitter that FTX has not received any notice from the regulator, but that it is ready to cooperate with the FSCA and comply with all requirements. The exchange independently contacted the department to start an “open dialogue” and discuss the situation.
The FSCA has issued a similar warning regarding the Seychelles-listed exchange ByBit. ByBit responded to the agency’s statement and announced its readiness to apply for the necessary permission. Last year, the FSCA issued the same warning regarding the Binance exchange.
Regulatory authorities in South Africa are paying close attention to the cryptocurrency industry as they are concerned about the increasing cases of fraud in this industry. So, in January, law enforcement officers began to investigate the activities of the AfriCrypt cryptocurrency pyramid, the founders of which managed to escape with 69,000 BTC.
Source: Bits
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