US crypto exchange pulls plug on SA investors
US crypto exchange Kraken has stopped accepting deposits from South Africans following a decision by the exchange’s banking partner to place SA on an anti-money laundering blacklist.
The crypto arbitrage premium, which last week ranged between 0.7% and 1.5%, yesterday spiked to 3.5% on the news.
Moneyweb reports that this is seen as a direct consequence of SA being ‘greylisted’ in February by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for its lack of compliance with international standards on money laundering and terrorist financing.
Crypto arbitrage and forex specialist Future Forex yesterday emailed clients advising them of the development.
Kyle Dowie, co-founder of crypto arbitrage provider Dooya, says the Kraken announcement caused upheaval in the market.
‘Many arbitrage providers use Kraken as their offshore exchange, and so post the announcement on Friday, many arbitrage providers are unable to trade at the moment. The premium in the arbitrage market has increased significantly as a result of less arbitrage trading in the market. We expect Kraken to announce a new banking partner sometime in the next few weeks or months, but there is no definitive timeline on this from Kraken yet.’
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