South African Regulators Declare FTX and ByBit Operations Illegal

South African financial regulators have warned its citizens against trading on cryptocurrency exchanges FTX and ByBit, adding that both trading platforms are not authorized to operate in the country.

According to two different notices by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), Bybit and FTX have given South Africans unrestricted access to its platform, allowing its citizens to trade bitcoin, ethereum, dogecoin, etc.

The FSCA noted that the exchanges’ operation in South Africa is illegal and contravenes its laws that require firms offering contracts for difference (CFD) services in the country to register with relevant authorities.

Notably, the country’s financial watchdog had contacted ByBit about its illegal operations within its jurisdiction and the Seychelles-based exchange had agreed to register with the FSCA to offer crypto-related services in South Africa.

However, efforts to contact the FTX team on the same matter did not yield any positive results, the announcement adds.

FSCA Warned Binance and Others

This is not the first time South African regulators have issued a notice to cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.

Last year, the FSCA warned citizens to desist from trading on Beurax Trading, Xchangebit.io, as well as world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The development prompted Binance to block South African traders from using most of its products, especially crypto derivative products like Margins, Futures, Leverage, and Options trading.

It is also worth noting that if FTX and ByBit fail to come to a meaningful conclusion with the FSCA, it is expected that both trading platforms would take a similar path as Binance.

South Africa to Regulate Cryptos

Meanwhile, the warnings come at a time when South Africa is working relentlessly to regulate its crypto economy, following the disappearance of the South African brothers, resulting in the loss of $3.6 billion.

The regulators have made significant efforts toward regulating cryptocurrencies within its shores since the unfortunate development.

In July 2021, the country’s apex bank, South African Reserve Bank (SARB) banned cryptocurrency investors from trading the nascent asset class on foreign trading platforms not registered with relevant authorities.