South African regulators have been warming up to cryptocurrencies over the past few months. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the nation’s financial sector regulator, recently recognized cryptocurrency assets as financial products, making them subject to regulation. The nation’s central bank also instructed commercial banks to cooperate with crypto asset service providers in a directive.

With such an enabling regulatory environment, crypto use cases are becoming more common in the country. According to Finder’s Crypto Adoption October 2022 report, South Africa now ranks 17th out of 26 countries for crypto adoption.

Centennial School in Sandton, Johannesburg, has now introduced a 10-module course that teaches pupils about real-world uses of blockchain and cryptocurrencies while enhancing their financial and digital literacy in an effort to stay up with the country’s embrace of cryptocurrencies.

Shawn Fuchs, Founder and CEO of Centennial Schools stated, “By exposing our students to this curriculum, we are improving their future by providing them with the skills they need for life outside of school.”  

The school has partnered with CoinEd, an education provider that integrates cryptocurrency and blockchain courses into educational institutions to provide course materials.

CoinAid co-founder Kriyan Singh commented that by teaching students how to safely engage with crypto, they will benefit in their financial lives, in their digital security, and in their future jobs.

“The idea that we will live part of our lives in a virtual reality – or metaverse – is creating our own economy. The financial system of the metaverse is currently based on cryptocurrencies and blockchain, and through education, we aim to integrate the physical and digital worlds. Both have to inspire innovative thinking and entrepreneurship,” concluded Singh.

However, Centennial schools is not the only institution keeping up with the fast-paced crypto adoption in South Africa. Last month, Pick n Pay, one of the largest retailers in the country, announced that it would begin allowing point-of-sale bitcoin payments. 
Additionally, the non-profit charitable organization, FoodForwardSA, also announced a partnership with the crypto exchange platform, Luno, which will allow South Africans to donate bitcoin to the organization. Luno also announced a sponsorship deal with Pretoria-based rugby franchise, Vodacom Bulls, which will see the team’s players get paid in crypto.