Sygnia, the financial services group headed by outspoken businesswoman Magda Wierzycka, plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange in the third quarter of 2018 that will allow its clients to trade in crypto assets.

In commentary in its interim financial results for the six months ended 31 March 2018, the Cape Town-headquartered Sygnia said launching the exchange is one of its key initiatives over the next 18 months.

“We aim to launch SygniaCoin, a cryptocurrency exchange, in the third quarter of 2018,” the company said. “The cryptocurrency market is evolving at a rapid pace internationally and domestically, and is attracting both domestic and international flows.”

With its fintech focus, Sygnia said it 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”.

Regulation around cryptocurrency exchanges is likely to evolve, the company said. “The 2018/2019 budget defined cryptocurrencies as ‘digital assets that may be used as a medium of exchange’. The South African Revenue Service has already indicated that trading and investing in cryptocurrencies are subject to tax. We expect further regulatory frameworks to follow.”

SygniaCoin’s policies, protocols and processes will be based on existing regulatory frameworks applicable to cryptocurrency exchanges registered in the state of New York in the US.

In the six months to March, Sygnia reported headline earnings per share of 25.34c, a slight decline from 2017’s 26.23c. Revenue was R207.3m, up 41%, while profit after tax rose by 8% to R37m. Assets under management and administration rose to R180.6bn, from R158.9bn previously. — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media