South African crypto traders warned over using major exchanges - FTX and ByBit repond

[Jan]

FTX and ByBit respond to South African regulator crypto trading warning

South Africa’s financial regulator said traders should be “cautious and vigilant” when using FTX Trading Ltd., one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto exchanges.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority on Wednesday issued two notices warning against dealing with Bahamas-headquartered FTX and Seychelles-based ByBit. It said the companies aren’t authorized to give financial advice or intermediary services in South Africa.

 

[John Tempus]

FSCA can fk right off.

The FSCA were made aware of MTI over a year before the ponzi collapsed and they did absolutely nothing to prevent MTI from scamming more people yet now they want to stick their fingers in legit businesses and pretend to do it to protect consumers.

BS, this is an outreach by the FSCA for bribe money from legit institutions.

The FSCA couldn't care less about actual ponzis stealing your money until said ponzis collapse then the FSCA is super duper reactive and cares about everyone oh so much.

 

[Sensorei]

Go f*k yourself FSCA. Let me earn my money the way I choose to.

FSCA issued the exact same warning about Binance last year, and within days Binance blocked futures and margin trading for South Africans.

 

[airborne]

How do these exchanges get around the legal hurdles of operating in other countries, I'm assuming they are legal in most countries?

 

[IndigoIdentity]

FSCA can fk right off.

The FSCA were made aware of MTI over a year before the ponzi collapsed and they did absolutely nothing to prevent MTI from scamming more people yet now they want to stick their fingers in legit businesses and pretend to do it to protect consumers.

BS, this is an outreach by the FSCA for bribe money from legit institutions.

The FSCA couldn't care less about actual ponzis stealing your money until said ponzis collapse then the FSCA is super duper reactive and cares about everyone oh so much.

Unsure of how a business could be deemed legitimate if they do not comply with the laws of the lands which they are operating in. They are either legal (abiding by legislation) or not (contravene legislation). It seems that these two businesses fall into the latter section, it's something that they can easily remedy by going through the processes which are involved. If they won't do that, to hell with them for milking the country.

 

[John Tempus]

Unsure of how a business could be deemed legitimate if they do not comply with the laws of the lands which they are operating in. They are either legal (abiding by legislation) or not (contravene legislation). It seems that these two businesses fall into the latter section, it's something that they can easily remedy by going through the processes which are involved. If they won't do that, to hell with them for milking the country.

You think the FSCA is actually concerned about people trading on these platforms ? Do you think the FSCA gave 2shts about MTI or acted quickly on any of the prior ponzis MTI founders were involved in?

No, the FSCA does not exist to protect people from bad actors. The FSCA is only making these public statements right now in order to persuade these exchanges to pay the FSCA money in order for shut the FSCA up.

In any other industry this would be considered racketeering.

That is an extreme over reach only a drunk person would think of. How is FTX/Bybit milking the country ? WTF are on about. People trading on bybit need to declare their income if they do make any profit and pay taxes on it just like any other industry. How and where is FTX/Bybit milking the country ? Please elaborate with more than just monkey noises.

 

[Swa]

How do these exchanges get around the legal hurdles of operating in other countries, I'm assuming they are legal in most countries?

They don't actually. Binance shut down users from U.S. and U.K. when they complained that they weren't registered to operate there.

Unsure of how a business could be deemed legitimate if they do not comply with the laws of the lands which they are operating in. They are either legal (abiding by legislation) or not (contravene legislation). It seems that these two businesses fall into the latter section, it's something that they can easily remedy by going through the processes which are involved. If they won't do that, to hell with them for milking the country.

Perhaps countries should start realising that we live in a global economy with one set of rules and not multiple. For instance if I want to buy a game on GOG it's nobody's business. I shouldn't have to answer to a corrupt entity telling me they didn't rate it for me, for the second time. There were such cases after apartheid where people imported what the "morality" laws prohibited and the FPB was told to get lost.

The only ones milking here are the FSCA and their cartel.

 

[Praemon]

Unsure of how a business could be deemed legitimate if they do not comply with the laws of the lands which they are operating in. They are either legal (abiding by legislation) or not (contravene legislation). It seems that these two businesses fall into the latter section, it's something that they can easily remedy by going through the processes which are involved. If they won't do that, to hell with them for milking the country.

I agree on the first part, but not the second. The reason these companies aren't registered as financial providers in places like SA is because they can't register. Crypto has no regulatory backing, and therefore you cannot register as financial provider. So it's all well and good saying they're contravening the law, but if you don't give legitimate businesses a way to get a license and then ban them for not getting it, you're not exactly providing a fair playing field.

This is no different to other industries lead by Uber and AirBNB that fall into a grey area due to outdated legislation. Instead of being accommodative to allow the industry to grow and flourish, the South African government's view on everything is how can we kill off innovation and get as much money out of it in the process.

 

[IndigoIdentity]

You think the FSCA is actually concerned about people trading on these platforms ? Do you think the FSCA gave 2shts about MTI or acted quickly on any of the prior ponzis MTI founders were involved in?

No, the FSCA does not exist to protect people from bad actors. The FSCA is only making these public statements right now in order to persuade these exchanges to pay the FSCA money in order for shut the FSCA up.

In any other industry this would be considered racketeering.

That is an extreme over reach only a drunk person would think of. How is FTX/Bybit milking the country ? WTF are on about. People trading on bybit need to declare their income if they do make any profit and pay taxes on it just like any other industry. How and where is FTX/Bybit milking the country ? Please elaborate with more than just monkey noises.

Although I understand that you would have a strong opinion on this one, I still don't believe that this is true.

Simply put and in my own point of view, if a big business would like to trade in South Africa then they should in fact be forced to register as a business entity here, pay tax on their earnings and adhere to the the governing legislation as a requisite for doing business with the local population. Ultimately be a contributing part of society instead of feeding off of it for their own personal gain.

I don't see anything wrong in what the FSCA has done, these businesses have not been through due process and in doing so there may be a risk for society as a whole to be damaged by this. It's in their best interest to know these facts, whether you like that or not it doesn't change anything.

 

[IndigoIdentity]

Perhaps countries should start realising that we live in a global economy with one set of rules and not multiple. For instance if I want to buy a game on GOG it's nobody's business. I shouldn't have to answer to a corrupt entity telling me they didn't rate it for me, for the second time. There were such cases after apartheid where people imported what the "morality" laws prohibited and the FPB was told to get lost.

The only ones milking here are the FSCA and their cartel.

The only person who voted SA into a global economy here is you so far. Perhaps one day we will reach that point but there are many countries who have similar legislation and it's mostly for the reasons that I had stated above.

I don't want a "global economy", these companies must contribute else we are losing out as a whole.

 

[IndigoIdentity]

I agree on the first part, but not the second. The reason these companies aren't registered as financial providers in places like SA is because they can't register. Crypto has no regulatory backing, and therefore you cannot register as financial provider. So it's all well and good saying they're contravening the law, but if you don't give legitimate businesses a way to get a license and then ban them for not getting it, you're not exactly providing a fair playing field.

This is no different to other industries lead by Uber and AirBNB that fall into a grey area due to outdated legislation. Instead of being accommodative to allow the industry to grow and flourish, the South African government's view on everything is how can we kill off innovation and get as much money out of it in the process.

It's a fair point that you've made and true to a degree but there is a difference between companies that want to play by the rules and companies which do not, if you make them aware and they choose to ignore them and continue to proceed with business as usual then what?

Simply put by the FSCA, they have not been authorized to provide such services here in SA. If it was the case that no entities have had the route to become a part of this and help to create a situation that works out well for everyone then how do exchanges such as Luno continue on with their business? I would assume that we don't have the common local exchanges in there with them because they have been authorized to do so in the interim due to the open channel of communication that they have been maintaining, the ability for authorization of such entities surely falls within the realm of the legislation so I don't see that at all as being an over reach on the FSCAs part.

Then again, what do I no I am no legal fundie. To me, it's more about how they have gone about this and hence the reason for the concern. It's not ended well in all such cases right?

 

[Praemon]

It's a fair point that you've made and true to a degree but there is a difference between companies that want to play by the rules and companies which do not, if you make them aware and they choose to ignore them and continue to proceed with business as usual then what?

Simply put by the FSCA, they have not been authorized to provide such services here in SA. If it was the case that no entities have had the route to become a part of this and help to create a situation that works out well for everyone then how do exchanges such as Luno continue on with their business? I would assume that we don't have the common local exchanges in there with them because they have been authorized to do so in the interim due to the open channel of communication that they have been maintaining, the ability for authorization of such entities surely falls within the realm of the legislation so I don't see that at all as being an over reach on the FSCAs part.

Then again, what do I no I am no legal fundie. To me, it's more about how they have gone about this and hence the reason for the concern. It's not ended well in all such cases right?

Local exchanges like Luno don't offer derivative instruments, which is the main area that FSCA seem to be targeting. The article mentions that both exchanges are trying to work with the FSCA after this was brought to their attention, so lets see what happens.

 

[Tman543]

Who uses FTX / Bybit from SA? Are they sure they got the right exchanges?

Anyway another scare tactic from the regulators.

 

[Praemon]

Who uses FTX / Bybit from SA? Are they sure they got the right exchanges?

Anyway another scare tactic from the regulators.

If you want to trade perpetual futures in crypto they're the biggest exchanges after Binance, who removed the option for SA users in FSCA's last attack.

 

[Swa]

The only person who voted SA into a global economy here is you so far. Perhaps one day we will reach that point but there are many countries who have similar legislation and it's mostly for the reasons that I had stated above.

I don't want a "global economy", these companies must contribute else we are losing out as a whole.

No we are in it by default. You buy an appliance you likely bought it off the global market so you can't pick and choose when we are part of it or not. And on the subject of contributing, you realise companies like Amazon don't pay taxes here except for things like import taxes but that's really end users and our own country paying because they don't operate from here?

Simply these companies like Binance want to comply with local legislation because that enables them to operate but SA hasn't realised yet that we are playing by global rules.