The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will start testing new regulations for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in the forthcoming months, Business Tech reported.

Speaking to the publication, Bankymoon CEO Loerien Gamaroff said that that the company has been selected for the central bank’s sandbox to trial-run the new regulations. He said that he had been in touch with the SARB for some time now and had conducted cryptocurrency-related workshops and seminars. Gamaroff was also involved in an initiative to investigate alternative currencies in the country.

“All we are doing at this point is seeing how far this relationship will go on within this sandbox,” Gamaroff told Business Tech. “This is because the Reserve Bank is very hesitant to give a stamp of approval on anything that comes out. The sandbox will only be Bitcoin-focused during this initial phase, but is focused on applying broad regulations to all cryptocurrencies”.

However, he emphasized that the central bank has not made any official announcement on the regulatory sandbox. Moreover, as the regulatory frameworks are currently being developed, they are subject to change.

Gamaroff expressed his optimism on the development and possibility of formal regulations for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the country.

“I think the regulation will move things along and make people on the street comfortable with Bitcoin. With these new regulations, these everyday people can now trust that Bitcoin is not just for hackers and criminals,” he said.

Earlier this year, the SARB said that it is open to the possibility of issuing national digital currency based on blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT), as reported by Moneyweb.

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