2024 has largely been a profitable year for South Africa’s flourishing crypto-currency industry, which saw several milestones during the year.
Global events, such as the US elections, also worked in the local industry’s favour, with several crypto exchanges reporting increased volumes on their platforms.
On the regulatory front, locally, the biggest milestone was the granting of licences by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority to various Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs), providing some of the much-needed regulatory clarity the industry had yearned for.
The industry also celebrated when Bitcoin, the world’s most popular digital currency, in November reached $100 000 (R1.7 million) per single coin.
This, after US president-elect Donald Trump made crypto an important element of his campaign strategy, pledging to create a “strategic Bitcoin reserve” and to position the US as the “crypto capital of the planet”.
ITWeb interviewed some of the leading crypto players in SA about their 2024 achievements and expectations for 2025.
For Farzam Ehsani, co-founder and CEO of VALR, the obvious highlight for crypto this year was Bitcoin surpassing the psychological milestone of $100 000.
“What’s less reported is that Bitcoin surpassed the $2 trillion market cap level. Gold’s market cap sits at about $18 trillion and many, including myself, believe that in the future the Bitcoin market cap will surpass that of gold,” says Ehsani.
“As Bitcoin’s supply is pre-determined and is not influenced by demand, the only way for Bitcoin’s market cap to rise is due to price appreciation and market cap parity between Bitcoin and gold puts the price of Bitcoin at $899 000 per coin. But as we know, digital versions outpace their physical counterparts by orders of magnitude.”
He believes the market should see a continued run in Bitcoin’s price into 2025 although, as witnessed in the past, large pull-backs are also expected.
Christo de Wit, Luno country manager for SA, says among the key developments in 2024 was the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January, making it much easier and more attractive for funds to diversify their activities into crypto-currency.
He adds that multiple ETFs gained approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Bitcoin ETFs now have assets of approximately $113 billion, with $10 billion added since Trump’s election alone.
“Regulation across the world has increased the legitimacy of crypto. In SA, crypto asset service providers like Luno were officially recognised as financial service providers in 2024,” De Wit states.
“Memecoins claimed many headlines in the crypto landscape in 2024, with originals like Dogecoin more than tripling in price throughout the year – with help from support by influential people like Elon Musk. Spinoffs like Shiba Inu also saw substantial growth.”
De Wit believes the coming year could bring further growth and adoption in this market, if interest continues to rise at the same trajectory it did in 2024.
“It is, however, as with any digital asset, important to do your own research before investing and never invest more than you can afford to lose. Even if it does have an influencer’s face on it,” he cautions.
David Porter, GM of AltCoinTrader, is expecting the market to remain bullish through Q1 and even potentially Q2 of 2025, as the market sees dwindling stock of Bitcoin and other majors on exchanges, setting up the conditions for a supply shock.
“I also think a lot depends on developments in the US and how exactly the campaign promises of the newly-elected Donald Trump, as they pertain to crypto, play out. Already, there are some senators pushing a Bill that seeks to get the US to hold Bitcoin as part of its strategic reserve,” says Porter.
“This would be immense and vindicate the views of many Bitcoin enthusiasts that Bitcoin is akin to ‘digital gold’. With that being said, the market will likely, as in previous years, take its lead from Bitcoin before you start seeing the trickle-down effects into altcoins.”
Luc Varejes, COO of Ovex, notes the Bitcoin halving event, which splits the block reward issued to miners supporting the network, was another highlight for 2024.
“Going into 2025, I expect positive market sentiment to continue, given the positive and more dovish macro climate,” says Varajes.
He points out that many industry experts have given Bitcoin price targets of between $150 000 and $200 000 by the close of 2025.
“Additionally, with the new leadership in the US, we expect to see a favourable and collaborative stance on crypto-currency, which will lead to far greater regulatory certainty and widespread adoption. Currently, very few larger cap crypto-currencies have reached their all-time high and Bitcoin dominance remains near peak levels. As such, I expect to see Bitcoin dominance to fall and some larger altcoins to exhibit stronger performance in the short-term in line with previous historical trends.”
Ehsani notes there is a good probability that Trump will follow-through with his promises regarding a Bitcoin strategic reserve.
“He is putting several pro-crypto individuals into his administration, including the proposed treasury secretary, Scot Bessent, and the proposed SEC chairperson, Paul Atkins. He has also named an ‘AI and crypto czar’ for his administration, David Sacks.”
According to Ehsani, VALR has crossed the one million user mark and it’s seeing many more South Africans join the platform to get exposure to this asset class that promises to be of much more significance for humanity.
“So overall, it has been a great year and we expect a continued positive trajectory in 2025.”
De Wit adds that since Trump’s election, he has seemingly made good on his pledges by nominating pro-crypto figures to several key federal roles, fuelling optimism among crypto supporters.
“Atkins, who was SEC commissioner between 2002 and 2008, is considered supportive of the crypto-currency industry and has been a member and co-chair of the Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Token Alliance, a blockchain trade association, since 2017,” he notes.
Following the new all-time high for Bitcoin in November 2024, De Wit says, Luno’s active transacting customer base reached a multi-month high, with notable growth from the previous month.
“The recent price surge has also driven a significant rise in weekly trading volumes on the platform in South Africa.”
Adds Varejes: “After president Trump takes office, I expect to see a far more harmonious and cohesive response to crypto-currency regulation in the US. This will lead to greater adoption and regulatory clarity.
“There have been some initial talks of the US government establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve, which would have tremendous positive impacts on the price and store-of-value narrative of Bitcoin.”
Porter says he has learnt to takepolitical campaign promises with a bucket of salt. “However, the cryptocommunity globally is very vocal and may voice widespread dissatisfaction ifthe promises made during Trump’s campaign never see the light of day.
“This may actually pressure a president who seemingly feeds off positive reinforcement to deliver on the promises made. We will have to wait and see, but I remain hopeful that 2025 will see many positive developments,” he concludes.
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