SASLA: Exploring South Africa鈥檚 first institutional rand stablecoin
30 March 2026 South Africa
Image: HaJung/stock.adobe.com
Introducing South Africa鈥檚 first institutional-grade rand stablecoin, representatives of Sanlam Specialised Asset Management, EasyEquities, and Luno explored ZARU at the South Africa 网爆吃瓜 Lending and Collateral Management conference in Cape Town.
Over the last year, Vighnesh Patel, independent member of Luno鈥檚 Digital Asset Listing Committee, and responsible for overseeing stablecoins at Luno, has seen a dramatic development in the stablecoin market, which he believes has decoupled from the digital asset market entirely. There is an increasing growth, notably in the institutional space, he highlighted.
According to Patel, recent reports suggest the market capital of stablecoins is sitting at approximately US$320 billion, with 232 million holders of stablecoins. In 2025, around US$30 trillion worth of transactions were processed in 2025.
鈥淭he power of an institutional stablecoin comes from a group of reputable institutions that can bring credibility, infrastructure, governance, adoption, as well as liquidity. If you are working in isolation, you are limited by your own balance sheet,鈥� he explained.
Providing more context to what a stablecoin is, Earle Loxton, CEO of EasyCrypto, a product of EasyEquities, said that the biggest distinction between a stablecoin and an asset like Ethereum or Bitcoin is 鈥渢he fact that its value is stable鈥�. It is stable because it is 鈥減egged鈥� to the rand and backed by rand-denominated high-quality liquid assets.
The project to create ZARU came together with the intention to put an institutional-grade stablecoin on the market through the collaboration between four 鈥渉ighly reputable鈥� institutions (Sanlam, EasyEquities, Luno, and Lesaka Technologies), which is typically how stablecoins propagate, noted Loxton, through digital exchanges and financial platforms.
Jacques le Roux, CEO of Sanlam Financial Markets and representing Sanlam Specialised Asset Management, said his firm is primarily responsible for managing the assets that back the stablecoin and, in particular, to manage those assets in a way that allows the issuer to meet its obligation.
Moving the conversation forward, Patel noted that regulation in this area is well established globally. Whether it is in Hong Kong or Dubai, regulations such as the CLARITY Act and MiCA are baseline requirements that apply to stablecoins globally.
鈥淲hile at the moment, in the context of South Africa, there is an absence of very specific mandates on potential requirements or liquidity, ZARU has been designed as an institutional stablecoin, so it's designed to fit into those global frameworks,鈥� Patel highlighted. 鈥淎 stablecoin by its nature, and institutions, are operating globally, and as such, your money needs to be compliant globally.鈥�
Currently, ZARU is only available to institutional clients on a direct mint basis 鈥� in other words, an institution looking to access this stablecoin would need to deposit or transfer the ZAR by electronic funds transfer (EFT) into the bank account of the issuer (a licensed crypto-asset service provider), and then the ZARU will be sent to the buyer as an institution as the issuer does not engage directly with retail clients.
ZARU is accessible via OTC on Luno and is also available on the South African online investment platform, EasyEquities. According to Patel, there are multiple other global partners seeking to create distribution for this asset, both on exchanges and OTC, which will unfold over the coming months.
Le Roux added: 鈥淭he starting point was to design something that would be of such a high standard that an institution would be comfortable engaging with it.
鈥淲e take governance, compliance, and regulatory requirements 鈥� both current and future 鈥� into account to continue to build out something that we believe, one day, will be the foundation of digital value transmission in the South African industry.鈥�
Expanding the conversation, le Roux sees a global trend where, increasingly, a wider scope of assets are being digitised. He noted that in order to engage with assets that are digital, participants need digital 鈥榤oney鈥� to transfer value. Therefore, ZARU is acting as the 鈥渇oundation layer鈥� of that digital economy, so to speak, he added.
With the conversation coming to a close, le Roux provided a perspective which he noted 鈥渕ay seem a little futuristic, but it鈥檚 really not鈥�.
In the context of securities lending and collateralisation, he sees a world where collateral contracts can be translated perfectly and, effectively, automated in digital form.
As an example, if the collateral contract notes 鈥渋f you give me X number of securities, I will give you Y number of other securities, and applying the following haircuts鈥� it is possible when assets are tokenised and the currency is tokenised, for all of that to happen instantaneously and in a rules-based fashion, without human error or intervention, and 24/7.
鈥淐ollateralisation can happen all of the time. Margining, topping up, returning collateral, can happen on an automated basis, without timing differences between jurisdictions,鈥� said le Roux.
He warned that the sooner large institutions realise the world is shifting in that direction, the better, because otherwise they will be left behind in a world where they do not have the infrastructure or knowledge to participate.
In conclusion, le Roux said: 鈥淭he South African financial market, in the context of broad emerging markets, is very well advanced. And I also think that is the case on the digital asset side. I don鈥檛 believe we are terribly behind the curve, globally speaking.
鈥淲e鈥檙e perhaps slightly behind in terms of regulatory clarity and adoption, but in our defence, it is because the world has suddenly moved very quickly in the last two years. The sophistication is there in terms of certain market participants. My worry is that, on the institutional side, we run the risk of falling behind.鈥�
Over the last year, Vighnesh Patel, independent member of Luno鈥檚 Digital Asset Listing Committee, and responsible for overseeing stablecoins at Luno, has seen a dramatic development in the stablecoin market, which he believes has decoupled from the digital asset market entirely. There is an increasing growth, notably in the institutional space, he highlighted.
According to Patel, recent reports suggest the market capital of stablecoins is sitting at approximately US$320 billion, with 232 million holders of stablecoins. In 2025, around US$30 trillion worth of transactions were processed in 2025.
鈥淭he power of an institutional stablecoin comes from a group of reputable institutions that can bring credibility, infrastructure, governance, adoption, as well as liquidity. If you are working in isolation, you are limited by your own balance sheet,鈥� he explained.
Providing more context to what a stablecoin is, Earle Loxton, CEO of EasyCrypto, a product of EasyEquities, said that the biggest distinction between a stablecoin and an asset like Ethereum or Bitcoin is 鈥渢he fact that its value is stable鈥�. It is stable because it is 鈥減egged鈥� to the rand and backed by rand-denominated high-quality liquid assets.
The project to create ZARU came together with the intention to put an institutional-grade stablecoin on the market through the collaboration between four 鈥渉ighly reputable鈥� institutions (Sanlam, EasyEquities, Luno, and Lesaka Technologies), which is typically how stablecoins propagate, noted Loxton, through digital exchanges and financial platforms.
Jacques le Roux, CEO of Sanlam Financial Markets and representing Sanlam Specialised Asset Management, said his firm is primarily responsible for managing the assets that back the stablecoin and, in particular, to manage those assets in a way that allows the issuer to meet its obligation.
Moving the conversation forward, Patel noted that regulation in this area is well established globally. Whether it is in Hong Kong or Dubai, regulations such as the CLARITY Act and MiCA are baseline requirements that apply to stablecoins globally.
鈥淲hile at the moment, in the context of South Africa, there is an absence of very specific mandates on potential requirements or liquidity, ZARU has been designed as an institutional stablecoin, so it's designed to fit into those global frameworks,鈥� Patel highlighted. 鈥淎 stablecoin by its nature, and institutions, are operating globally, and as such, your money needs to be compliant globally.鈥�
Currently, ZARU is only available to institutional clients on a direct mint basis 鈥� in other words, an institution looking to access this stablecoin would need to deposit or transfer the ZAR by electronic funds transfer (EFT) into the bank account of the issuer (a licensed crypto-asset service provider), and then the ZARU will be sent to the buyer as an institution as the issuer does not engage directly with retail clients.
ZARU is accessible via OTC on Luno and is also available on the South African online investment platform, EasyEquities. According to Patel, there are multiple other global partners seeking to create distribution for this asset, both on exchanges and OTC, which will unfold over the coming months.
Le Roux added: 鈥淭he starting point was to design something that would be of such a high standard that an institution would be comfortable engaging with it.
鈥淲e take governance, compliance, and regulatory requirements 鈥� both current and future 鈥� into account to continue to build out something that we believe, one day, will be the foundation of digital value transmission in the South African industry.鈥�
Expanding the conversation, le Roux sees a global trend where, increasingly, a wider scope of assets are being digitised. He noted that in order to engage with assets that are digital, participants need digital 鈥榤oney鈥� to transfer value. Therefore, ZARU is acting as the 鈥渇oundation layer鈥� of that digital economy, so to speak, he added.
With the conversation coming to a close, le Roux provided a perspective which he noted 鈥渕ay seem a little futuristic, but it鈥檚 really not鈥�.
In the context of securities lending and collateralisation, he sees a world where collateral contracts can be translated perfectly and, effectively, automated in digital form.
As an example, if the collateral contract notes 鈥渋f you give me X number of securities, I will give you Y number of other securities, and applying the following haircuts鈥� it is possible when assets are tokenised and the currency is tokenised, for all of that to happen instantaneously and in a rules-based fashion, without human error or intervention, and 24/7.
鈥淐ollateralisation can happen all of the time. Margining, topping up, returning collateral, can happen on an automated basis, without timing differences between jurisdictions,鈥� said le Roux.
He warned that the sooner large institutions realise the world is shifting in that direction, the better, because otherwise they will be left behind in a world where they do not have the infrastructure or knowledge to participate.
In conclusion, le Roux said: 鈥淭he South African financial market, in the context of broad emerging markets, is very well advanced. And I also think that is the case on the digital asset side. I don鈥檛 believe we are terribly behind the curve, globally speaking.
鈥淲e鈥檙e perhaps slightly behind in terms of regulatory clarity and adoption, but in our defence, it is because the world has suddenly moved very quickly in the last two years. The sophistication is there in terms of certain market participants. My worry is that, on the institutional side, we run the risk of falling behind.鈥�
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