South African Regulators Warn Consumers Against FTX, ByBit

South African regulators warn customers against exchanges such as FTX And ByBit as we can see more today in our latest cryptocurrency news today.

ByBit said that the South African regulators warn users and demanded the exchange to comply with their guidance while FTX reached out to start a dialog. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa issued two notices and warned the public against dealing with these two exchanges. In a press release, the FSCA told the public to be very vigilant when trading with FTX because the exchange is not authorized to give any financial advice or to render intermediaries services in terms of the FAIS Act in the region.

We would be excited to work with the FSCA, and appreciate them for bringing this to our attention. We are not aware of any outreach from the FSCA but would be excited to engage with the FSCA to comply with SA requirements. We have reached out today to initiate a dialog.

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 2, 2022

The press release outlined the fact that FTX is not authorized to trace in Contracts for Difference and instruments which enable investors to speculate on the short-term price movements of the asset. The FSCA issued the same missive with ByBit whcih has been operational since 2018. byBit’s missive reported that the exchange responded to the regulator and it is willing to apply for the needed authorization. The FSCA said that it tries to contact FTX but it was unsuccessful. The CEO of the exchange announced on Twitter that the exchange was not aware of any outreach from the FSCA but will be excited to engage with the regulators to comply with their requirements adding that the company reached out today to start a dialog.

#FSCAWarnings

The FSCA warns the public against FXT Trading Ltd: https://t.co/svqFe5TPKw pic.twitter.com/QBJpX5PEPH

— FSCA (@FSCA_ZA) February 1, 2022

South African regulators were perturbed by major instances of fraud in the past year. Two brothers who founded the South Africa trading platform Africrypt Raees and Ameer Cajee shut down operations and vanished from the face of the earth with 69,000 BTC. The defrauded Africrypt investors took action and they are now pushing for the missing brothers to be tried for fraud, theft, and money laundering. The FSCA commissioner Unathi Kamlana said that the regulator was developing a new framework to establish how trading in South Africa should be conducted.

Pierce clarified that the final decision to go ahead with the prosecution hasn’t been made yet. Rashaad Moosa who is the lawyer of Africrypt said the prosecution will be hard to pursue because the investors signed agreements to transfer the claims to the Dubai-based company called Pennython Project Management LLC. The Dubai Company offered the investor payouts and Moosa claimed that the investors no longer hold rights to any interest.