The premium on crypto assets listed on South African exchanges experienced a sudden surge to 3.5% after Kraken, a U.S.-based crypto exchange, abruptly started blocking deposits from users based in the country. The decision by Kraken is believed to be linked to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recent addition of South Africa to its greylist. Prior to this, the premium, or the gap between prices of crypto assets on global exchanges and South African exchanges, ranged between 0.7% and 1.5%.
According to reports, Kraken’s decision to block South African deposits was triggered by its banking partner placing the country on an anti-laundering blacklist. Analysts have connected this move to the FATF’s decision to greylist South Africa, despite the country’s designation of crypto assets as financial products. This expectedly had an impact on the local crypto arbitrage market, with players like Future Forex finding alternatives. Kraken’s decision came a few months after Circle, another crypto exchange, also stopped accepting deposits from South African residents.
Keywords: South Africa, crypto assets, premium, Kraken, deposits, Financial Action Task Force, greylist, crypto arbitrage market, banking partner, anti-laundering blacklist, Circle.
Hashtags: #SouthAfrica #cryptoassets #Kraken #FinancialActionTaskForce #greylist #cryptoarbitragemarket #bankingpartner #Circle.
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