South Africa’s investment management company, Sygnia, has announced its plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange SygniaCoin, by the third quarter of this year. The move is aimed to serve the growing interest in digital currency by the country’s investors.
“The cryptocurrency market is evolving at a rapid pace internationally and domestically, and is attracting both domestic and international flows,” said Magda Wierzycka, CEO, Sygnia.
“With its fin-tech focus, Sygnia is well-positioned to become the first major financial services institution to embrace cryptocurrencies and to offer investors a secure trading and execution platform backed by an international infrastructure, well-designed custody and integration with standard savings products,” she added further.
The security and functional policies of SygniaCoin will be based on New York’s regulations regarding digital currencies to ensure the highest levels of integrity and security for clients. As for South Africa’s regulations, the South African Reserve Bank has established a fin-tech unit to draw up cryptocurrency regulations in the wake of rising popularity of cryptocurrencies.
With offices in Durban Capetown and Johannesburg, Sygnia reportedly oversees assets worth ZAR 184 billion (approximately $14.7 billion USD). The firm also boasts of over 6,600 clients, both individual and international.