FIAT gateways is what is holding Crypto back as being able to get in and out is the hardest part.
A few days ago I saw an article from Binance saying they accept South African Rand deposits and withdrawals. Easier said than done when banks have a policy of zero tolerance when it comes to anything Crypto.
All South Africa's major banks are listed and wish the UK would do the same or something similar as this would be great news.
Today I am reading another local article where the SA Reserve Bank is encouraging banks to serve their Crypto clients and to not alienate them. Apparently the Reserve Bank had sent out an advisory notice on how to deal with Crypto on the 15th August.
Apparently the excuse for banks to not provide a service to clients involved with Crypto was down to a lack of regulations which also involved risk. They have been informed risk is not a concern to terminate those clients business which is the total opposite of what we have been hearing for years.
A new FIAT gateway into and out of Crypto using the Stitch App has been added by Binance which uses your bank account to transfer into Stitch onto Binance. A 1% fee is charged in either direction for this service which must generate income for the banks somewhere in that 1%.
This is all rather confusing and kind of sums up the leadership as only a year ago the Reserve Bank was stating anyone transferring Crypto without permission to exchanges outside the borders was breaking their forex regulations. Sending Rands and receiving Rands back is not using Forex however as Binance accepts Rands. How can they suddenly change their minds this quickly unless there is more to gain by promoting it. September last year the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) was calling Binance a scam and that people should stay away and now look 11 months later how rosy things are acting like best buddies.
I am definitely not falling for this even though I think this is how it should have been in the first place. I see this as more of a trap as they will be able to control the taxing of Crypto far easier this way. The taxation with Crypto is way too high here and if and when I declare what I have it wont be to this Government. The last time I did some rough calculations I would pay double here what I would in the UK and the UK was still not ideal.
A new payment start up seems to have broken down doors others couldn't and how quickly things change.
One has to always have both eyes open and there has to always be a reason for the sudden change of heart. We know all they want is taxes and more of them and this is an avenue they know will be big in the future so the sooner they open it up the better it is for them. The economy is shot right now and they need to find new tax revenues so what better than Crypto which is going to be a massive income generator in a few years time.
Crypto is not looking like the enemy anymore and surely over the coming years more and more countries will start to embrace digital currencies. All the talk about protecting their clients from a high risk investment has been kicked into touch for now as that was the common excuse used to create FUD and block/slow down mass adoption. I am sure the banks will be horrified with this news and will be interesting to see how quickly they advertise their new love for servicing Crypto clients.
Definitely Binance and the other exchanges have a big role to play in getting more invested and onboarded into Crypto and this is right that they start to take the lead.