The story of Bitcoin’s regulation continues.Today’s turn goes to beautiful country South Africa.The government had been talking about Bitcoin for some time now.They even ran a ‘Bitcoin trial’.In terms of willingness to accept, we love the idea of a trial.It beats saying no from the start without even considering.The South African Reserve Bank is responsible for considering Bitcoin’s regulation.After reviewing the results of the Bitcoin trial, they decided to warn the South African people against the risks posed by cryptocurrency Bitcoin.The official statement being that the virtual currency had ‘no legal status or regulatory framework’.We’ve heard that one before, in fact, I think most people are getting tired of that reason by now.Still, the positive part of these conclusions is that these countries, even though they don’t like Bitcoin, still won’t ban it.People are allowed to use the cryptocurrency at their own risk.The South African Reserve Bank’s decision follows the news that Standard Bank had been running a Bitcoin trial.

The multinational bank proclaimed afterwards that it would not be launched to customers.The trial was developed by a company called Switchless.In order to see how Bitcoin would work from within a large multinational banking environment, the company developed a ‘fully operational and integrated Bitcoin portal system’.Basically, this would mean Standard Bank had an exchange and trading interface.A legitimate bank offering a service like this would be an enormous advantage for Bitcoin.It would stimulate worldwide mainstream acceptance.Because of the magnitude of this system, people were hoping Standard Bank would launch this platform to its customers.Unfortunately, the system never made it to the public.During the testing, it was restricted for internal use only.Not a single customer had been able to use or even see it in action.After the testing phase, Standard Bank said that “although the testing was satisfactory and yielded interesting results, we are not planning a public release anytime soon”.

A detailed explanation as to why there will be no official launch was not given.It’s possible the Mt.Gox situation made Standard Bank think twice about accepting Bitcoin, but that was never confirmed.best linux distro bitcoinAfter this decision, the South African Reserve Bank warned the South-African people about Bitcoin.bitcoin slogan“Bitcoin has no legal status or regulatory framework.spike in bitcoin priceThus, it poses a number of risks for those that would choose to transact with it such as the lack of guarantee of security, convertibility or value,” said Hlengani Mathebula, head of group strategy and communications at the South African Reserve Bank.bitcoin switch wallet“The South African Reserve Bank is actively monitoring the developments around virtual currencies to inform any future regulatory approaches that may become necessary within the South African jurisdiction,” Mathebula said.litecoin earning sites

The South African Reserve Bank and the National Treasury (the Ministry of Finance) together constitute the monetary authority in South Africa.After South Africa’s warning, Israel responded by warning its people as well, but also adding that it was considering regulation of Bitcoin.php bitcoin payment processorIsrael, home to pioneering firms in hi-tech fields such as cryptography, has emerged as a bitcoin hotspot.It’s a shame South Africa didn’t add that last line about regulation, as well.The coin is becoming popular at a rapid pace in the country.According to CoinMap, South African companies have already started to accept Bitcoin.Bitcoin fanatics in the African country hope that this is just the start.Regulation is an important topic, and lots of countries are shedding their light on the cryptocurrency.It’s only a matter of time before one country puts a fully functional legal framework around Bitcoin.

Let’s hope this framework will respect Bitcoin’s characteristics because that will be the only way to gain the people’s respect.The stories here come from users."Of late, corporations like Microsoft, Dell and Expedia are amongst a host of corporations that have begun to accept payments in Bitcoin.Central banks of various countries, including India’s Reserve Bank, have acknowledged Bitcoin as a currency of the future."- cointelegraphThis got me thinking...India is going big on Bitcoin so what about asking suppliers in India if they will accept bitcoin in exchange for their imported products instead of following the often-times cumbersome Forex outward T/T procedures of the banks.Some banking systems could involve various steps to perform a foreign payment, and onerous document reporting requirements.Such payments could take anything from 15 to 30 minutes to complete.Imagine in a large importing concern paying multiple suppliers daily, how much time could be saved by simply making Bitcoin payments in under a minute each.

The added benefit would be a 10 minute confirmation (clearing) time using Bitcoin opposed to the 2 to 3 day waiting period with the banks from date of outward T/T instruction.Another benefit is a further layer of anonymity, whereby if you pay via Bitcoin, your bank doesn't have to receive the details of your supplier and risk having one of their employees disclose such supplier to their family and friends who eventually may land up importing the same thing in competition to you.(These things can happen) My only concern was whether paying for foreign imports via Bitcoin would be legal and whether one would have to submit reporting documentation like one currently does with bank outward T/T's over 50 000.00 ZAR in value.So I asked a friend of mine who is employed by the SARB and we had the following discussion on Facebook:Friend @ SARB: ...I cannot comment on SARB policy in this forum.However, if you go to the SARB website and search on Bitcoin, you will find the position paper which details why Bitcoin is not legal tender in RSA.My Post in Response: ...thanks for your valued feedback.

The Reserve Bank whitepaper ( http://bit.ly/1NvvlVA ) on Bitcoin and Crypto Currencies answered my questions and made for an interesting read.I will summarise it below for anyone who may be interested.Firstly, it is correct that Crypto Currencies, referred to by SARB as DCVC's (Decentralised Convertible Virtual Currencies) are in fact not legal tender.At first glance this sounds like it may be illegal, but that is not true.The definition of legal tender by the SARB are notes and coins issued by a bank (section 3.2.3).Bitcoin and DCVC's are not physical currencies and thus fall outside of the definition.(you could print or mint them but it still would would not be legal tender, it can only be such if issued by a bank, so it stands to reason if banks ever issue bitcoin it will become legal tender)Section 3.2.4 goes on to expand on legal tender, as tender that a creditor is obliged to accept, which is interesting.I suppose a vendor choosing only to accept bitcoin and not local currency, would legally have to find a way to accept such coinage should a consumer demand to pay with local fiat currency.

The SARB has no particular objection to DCVC's being used, however in section 3.1.1 it recognises DCVC's as representative stores of value convertible to legal tender, much like tokens or vouchers.Section 2.1 authorises the use of DCVC's in trade and exchange - "A virtual currency (VC) is a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded and functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account and/or a store of value, but does not have legal tender status"Interestingly SARB recognises in section 2.4 that “…there is potential for real growth of Bitcoin in its current operational environment”In relation to my import payment reporting question it is clear that one does not need to report any foreign trade payments made in DCVC's, even if over R50 000.00, the white paper indicates in section 4.3.5.3 that: "FinSurv would not be in a position to report on the “flow” of DCVCs because the transactions would not be reported on the FinSurv Reporting System.It follows that payments using DCVCs in respect of imports or the receipt of export proceeds would not be detected and as a consequence FinSurv would not be able to report thereon."

Also section 4.3.5.2 highlights that "In terms of the Regulations, South African residents are afforded a foreign capital allowance of R4 million per calendar year…should investors choose to acquire DCs in terms of their foreign capital allowance, they do so at their own risk and have no recourse to South African authorities."Basically the above means you can use DCVC's to send funds overseas provided it doesn't exceeding your annual per person allowance.(Not that greater payment amount from funds already stored as bitcoin could easily be traced, but rather not do it)Finally, SARB states in section 5.1 "The Bank does not oversee, supervise or regulate the VC landscape, systems or intermediaries for effectiveness, soundness, integrity or robustness.Consequently, any and all activities related to the acquisition, trading or use of VCs (particularly DCVCs) are performed at the end-user’s sole and independent risk and have no recourse to the Bank."ThereforeSARB is saying - use it if you want, but don't come crying if for help from the banking system if something happens and you lose money.

I however still believe one will have recourse through the justice system and the courts of law should someone or some company steal your Bitcoin, Since Bitcoin is a digital asset, representative of value and a belonging of yours, much like for example a casino token before it gets cashed in. ProTip (BTC): 1ASZGq87sYAXfNHhrFsjizvj7bCV6vi5m8 Ethereum: 0x78e2501d90e92ae5bcb510e12dbcdfd010693e19 -MyNews24 UPLOAD Disclaimer: Welcome to News24 UPLOAD Read more from our Users Submitted by Sanele Sano Ngcobo Why are they opposing National He...We can’t once again postpone NHI, all lives matters.Students demanded free education, don’t be surprised when the next target is high quality healthcare for all.Read more... Submitted by Lisa Marcelle Hold Youth Day 2017 - the sad reality I have faith in our youth and I have the privilege of dealing with many young people of all races on a daily basis.Read more... Submitted by Samantha Napo State of our youth, state of our ...

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