Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      The satellite broadband operators taking on Starlink

      9 July 2025

      Yaccarino out: Musk’s handpicked CEO quits X suddenly

      9 July 2025

      AI gold rush propels Nvidia to record $4-trillion market cap

      9 July 2025

      Price hike for .za domains

      9 July 2025

      China’s Temu ups ante with South African warehouse launch

      9 July 2025
    • World

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025

      Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

      30 June 2025

      Bumper orders for Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV heighten threat to Tesla

      27 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Company News » SA regulator, big banks experiment with blockchain securities

    SA regulator, big banks experiment with blockchain securities

    By Block Markets Africa11 March 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Founded just three years ago, South African company Block Markets Africa is today working alongside two global consultancies to support an investigation by the South African Reserve Bank and leading financial institutions into the impact and benefit of blockchain technology on the future of financial markets and their systems.

    Established by Cape Town-based entrepreneurs Greg van der Spuy (33) and Tobie van der Spuy (39), Block Markets Africa (BMA) brings to the initiative their extensive experience with blockchain, the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and decentralised finance markets. BMA’s experience in the local banking technology sector through previous blockchain-based projects with Rand Merchant Bank and other financial institutions has positioned the company well to translate the new technology to the traditional financial sector.

    “We try to straddle the two worlds and focus on how they can work together,” said the Van der Spuys.

    Project Khokha 2 is exploring the policy and regulatory implications of innovation in financial markets driven by distributed ledger technology

    BMA has come into prominence after being contracted by the Reserve Bank to build blockchain platforms to test whether this technology can be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of certain types of traditional banking transactions.

    The contract supports what is known as Project Khokha 2, which is being undertaken as part of the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) Innovation Hub. This has been established to respond to changes in the financial sector driven by financial technologies. These range from blockchain to artificial intelligence, big data and robotic process automation. Khokha is a Zulu term meaning “to pay”.

    Members and participants

    Members of the IFWG are the Reserve Bank, the Competition Commission, Financial Intelligence Centre, Financial Sector Conduct Authority, National Credit Regulator, national treasury and the South African Revenue Service. Formed in 2016, the IFWG focuses on promoting responsible innovation in the South African financial sector.

    In addition to IFWG members, participants in the IFWG’s Project Khokha 2 include Absa, FirstRand, Investec, the JSE, Nedbank, Standard Bank and Strate.

    BMA is one of three companies providing specialist services to Project Khohka 2. The other companies are multinational professional services firms Accenture and Deloitte. BMA was selected to deliver two of the four advertised contracts to support Project Khokha 2.

    Project Khokha 2 is exploring the policy and regulatory implications of innovation in financial markets driven by distributed ledger technology (DLT), in which blockchain plays a major role. Project Khokha 2 will issue, clear and settle debentures on DLT using tokenised money to inform policy and regulatory reflections.

    Block Markets Africa has been selected to produce the DLT-based debentures as well as the wToken for the project. “BMA’s experience in tokenising and trading financial instruments across various DLT platforms will help create a Khokha network to interconnect the DLTs on the project,” said the IFWG. (For detailed information, see this IFWG document.)

    Meet the Van der Spuys

    Though they share the same surname, Greg and Tobie van der Spuy are, surprisingly, not related. They met for the first time in 2017 and decided to merge their past experience in blockchain and fintech by founding BMA. Greg van der Spuy brought to the company 10 years of experience in blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Tobie van der Spuy contributed 20 years of experience in fintech markets, the past four years of which have focused on blockchain.

    Describing himself as a “serial fintech entrepreneur”, Tobie van der Spuy has extensive insight into the tokenised and crypto asset markets ranging from operating crypto exchanges to digital asset wallets, algorithmic trading funds, and token issuance and trade market platform developments. He also has specialist knowledge in the mobile operator, banking and mass-market retailer ecosystems.

    Among his past experiences, Greg van der Spuy has built tokenised trading markets, managed and built commercial-sized cryptocurrency mining operations, managed private investment portfolios derived from blockchain-based investments, and participated heavily in protocol development and research on distributed ledger technology – including blockchain-based applications and their integration into legacy systems.

    For more information on BMA, please visit blockmarketsafrica.com.

    • This promoted content was paid for by the party concerned


    Accenture Block Markets Africa blockchain BMA Deloitte FirstRand Greg van der Spuy Investec JSE Nedbank Project Khokha Project Khokha 2 Reserve Bank Sarb South African Reserve Bank Standard Bank Strate Tobie van der Spuy
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleBitcoin goes mainstream
    Next Article Government expects to vaccinate 65% of population

    Related Posts

    Absa CEO Fihla to ditch ‘prison’ branches and revamp customer focus

    1 July 2025

    Cash addiction is costing South Africa billions

    30 June 2025

    Tech stability key to getting South Africa off damaging financial grey list

    23 June 2025
    Company News

    Samsung unfolds the future with thinnest, lightest Galaxy Z Fold yet

    9 July 2025

    Huawei supercharges South African SMEs with over 20 new eKit products

    9 July 2025

    Webtonic cracks the talent code with AWS-powered TonicHub

    9 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.