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Deployments · platform by BlockTower South Africa

ZAR Universal (ZARU) rand stablecoinNew

A rand stablecoin launched on 3 February 2026 by BlockTower South Africa, an FSCA-authorised financial services provider, with Luno, EasyEquities, Lesaka and Sanlam as founding network members. Reserves of rand cash, deposits and money market funds sit with Standard Bank, are managed by Sanlam's specialised asset management unit and are checked monthly by Moore Johannesburg. Only approved institutions mint and redeem; at launch it was sold to qualified institutional investors through Luno and EasyEquities. It runs on Solana and, since September 2026, trades against USDC on Circle's StableFX on Arc. About ZAR 61.6m was in circulation at the end of August 2026.

AnnouncedProof of conceptPilotLive (limited)Live (scaled)

Live (limited) since 3 Feb 2026[1] — Live on Solana; at launch limited to qualified institutional investors, with retail access via partners planned in phases. · Reviewed 21d ago

Assets
Stablecoin[3]
Rand-backed stablecoin
Networks
Solana Public, permissionless[3]
Arc Public, permissioned[4]
Live on Arc as a founding pair on Circle StableFX; no Arc contract address published.
Use cases
Primary issuance[5]Payments[1]FX settlement[4]
Jurisdictions
South Africa
Standards
Token-2022[3]

Participants

Assets

Metrics

  • 61,576,131 ZARZARU in circulation · as of 31 Aug 2026[5]
    Moore agreed-upon-procedures report; reserves ZAR 62.7m (deposits ZAR 26.8m, money market funds ZAR 35.9m), coverage 101.78%.
  • 60,553,096 ZARTokens in circulation · as of 18 Oct 2026 · on Solana[6]
    getTokenSupply on the public Solana RPC for the white paper's mint.
  • ~60,924,122 ZARSupply on chain (daily) · as of 7 Nov 2026 · on Solana[8]
    Automated daily reading.

Timeline

  1. Happened 22 Sep 2026 · Scope expansion · recorded 18 Oct 2026
    ZARU goes live on Arc as a founding currency pair (ZARU/USDC) on Circle's StableFX, with Luno as the main liquidity venue.[4]
  2. Happened 3 Feb 2026 · Launch · recorded 18 Oct 2026
    ZARU launches on Solana, available to qualified institutional investors through the Luno and EasyEquities trading desks.[1][2]

Sources

  1. [1]Launch of New Digital Currency 'ZARU' to Bring the South African Rand to the Global Internet Economy — ZAR Universal Network, 3 Feb 2026. Accessed 18 Oct 2026.B
  2. [2]SA Institutions Launch Digital Currency — Lesaka, 3 Feb 2026. Accessed 18 Oct 2026.B
  3. [3]ZAR Universal Network (ZARU) White Paper — ZAR Universal Network, 21 Jul 2026. Accessed 18 Oct 2026.B
  4. [4]ZARU is live on Arc — ZAR Universal Network, 22 Sep 2026. Accessed 18 Oct 2026.B
  5. [5]Agreed-upon procedures report with regard to the proof of reserves of ZAR Universal, issued by BlockTower South Africa (Pty) Ltd — Moore Blockchain and Digital Assets JHB, 1 Oct 2026. Accessed 18 Oct 2026. Snapshot 31 Aug 2026; linked from zaru.network as the September 2026 proof-of-reserves report. Agreed-upon procedures, not an assurance opinion..A
  6. [6]Token 2WvREMqcoxtGuKTyyuzVMH7xDkeH8mY6phduvUofPRXN | Solscan — Solscan. Accessed 18 Oct 2026. Supply from getTokenSupply on the public Solana RPC (6 decimals) on 18 Oct 2026; the explorer page renders with JavaScript..A
  7. [7]ZAR Universal Network — BlockTower South Africa. Accessed 28 Oct 2026. Strategic partners section with categories (Luno settlements; EasyEquities and Lumetrade liquidity and trading; Currency Hub market maker; Lipaworld payments)..B
  8. [8]Supply by chain, read daily — On-chain (public RPC, automated daily refresh). Accessed 7 Nov 2026.A

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