A senior associate and technology lawyer at global financial law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has discussed the legality of bitcoin in South Africa, a country where the cryptocurrency remains unregulated.
In a blog published yesterday, Kerri Crawford, a technology lawyer and senior associate at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright discussed cryptocurrencies with a particular focus on bitcoin.
Based in Johannesburg with a focus on e-commerce and information technology, Crawford writes that Bitcoin usage in South Africa isn’t illegal. She also notes that bitcoin acceptance among vendors is growing, with a fellow law firm also accepting payment in the cryptocurrency.
The legal status of Bitcoin in South Africa is akin to that of most countries around the world, wherein cryptocurrencies aren’t prohibited or outlawed outright.
Crawford underlines the same while referencing a joint advisory [PDF] issued by the country’s major financial authorities and regulators in 2014, alerting citizens to be aware of the risks associated with using or investing in virtual currencies.
At the time, the National Treasury of the Republic of South Africa began its alert by stating: The National Treasury, the South African Reserve Bank, the Financial Services Board, the South African Revenue Service and the Financial Intelligence Centre would like to warn members of the public to be aware of the risks associated with the use of virtual currencies for either transactions or investments. While the official position and lack of regulation remain the same with the lack of any new updates to the advisory since the September 2014 user alert, Crawford raises the possibility of the government looking into regulating and recognizing bitcoin in the future. She wrote: [A]s the uptake of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies increases, it is possible that the South African authorities will adopt the approach taken in many other jurisdictions and explore ways in which […]
