2018-7-17 01:19 |
Purple Group is a financial company that is located in South Africa, offering a trading platform online. In a recent announcement, they have decided to integrate the use of Bitcoin and Ethereum, in an effort to appease to their local investors. Studies in the area have surmised that many people in South Africa still have a lot of faith about crypto investments.
This platform is presently listed on the JSE, and previously did not have any cryptocurrencies available for trading. This decision came from the need for consumers to trade crypto within South Africa, according to Barry Dumas. Dumas works as a trading specialist with Purple Group, and he told Business Day,
“Your rands aren’t converted into dollars like some offerings out there, which can expose you to exchange risks.”
Dumas continued on to discuss the decline that the crypto world has experienced in the last few months, which has not changed the interest of retail clients. More retail and financial institutions are getting involved, causing this comment from Dumas:
“We are seeing a lot more engagement from international institutions like banks and international exchanges looking to regulate cryptocurrencies, as I suspect they want it to be a legitimate asset class in the future.”
The Purple Group platform has taken great care to only bring in large cap coins, since there are so many Altcoins that are not seeing the same progress. Bitcoin and Ethereum are dropping in price, which actually provides a great opportunity for consumers to get in while the cost is low. Dumas was careful to note that many investors are expecting the value to rise again, saying,
“We are seeing a decent spread between the bulls and bears but the bitcoin bias in the market is still to be long.”
The current trends that the market is presently experiencing could be a good indication that these investors are right. With a market that is finally reaching a stable point, Dumas expects that there will still be volatility, though “it’s not at the levels we saw last year.” He believes that this is due to investors becoming used to the different changes being made in the crypto world on a regular basis, along with the regulations that many countries are imposing.
Other Cryptocurrency Exchanges In AfricaAlong with Purple Group, South Africans have the option to purchase cryptocurrency on other exchanges in the area that support it, like Luno, Ice3x, and several companies owned by Saxo Bank. Soon, Syngia Ltd. in South Africa will be launching their exchange, though it is not planned until the third quarter of 2018. First National Bank is working to find “sustainable options” for their customers that crave more flexibility as well.
In a survey this year called the “Savings and Investment monitor” survey, Old Mutual polled residents in South Africa, finding that 38% wish they had taken the plunge to invest with cryptocurrency. A significant 71% of those surveyed believe in the opportunity to make profit from these investments. However, there is still 43% that believe crypto is more of a pyramid scheme than anything else. When asked about how many of the residents knew about Bitcoin, only 4% believed that they “know a lot” about it.
Right now, even with the regulations and advancements of other countries in this crypto space, the Republic of South Africa leads the way with the highest number of crypto trading platforms. However, this ranking only includes Africa. There are many experts working on regulations that help with their economy, though the South African Reserve Bank is shying away from actually calling the asset “cryptocurrency.” Instead, these assets are referred to as “cyber tokens,” because they are not classified like regular money is.
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