South Africa has unveiled a strategy to advance the adoption of digital payments, including an examination of stablecoins and blockchain technology to enhance the well-being of marginalised communities.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, while presenting the national budget on February 21, emphasized the necessity for structural reforms and improvements in public financial management.
He announced an impending policy shift regarding crypto assets, particularly focusing on stablecoins.
According to CoinTelegraph’s report on February 22, the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group plans to update its regulations in 2024 to include stablecoins as a distinct type of crypto asset.
This amendment will build upon the group’s previous publication of a crypto regulation paper in June 2021, which will also incorporate an assessment of the local stablecoin landscape.
Also, there is a proposal to amend the Financial Intelligence Centre Act to mandate reporting of crypto transactions exceeding 49,999 South African rand ($2,650) by all institutions.
South Africa also intends to explore the effects of blockchain-based tokenization on domestic financial markets.
South Africa anticipates the publication of a paper in December 2024 from the working group, delineating “the policy and regulatory implications of tokenization and blockchain-based financial market infrastructure.”
Additionally, the South African government will collaborate with Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and FinMark Trust on a three-year initiative to execute four digital payments pilot projects.