South Africa — crypto regulation

Status: legal · Last reviewed 2026-11-05

Crypto is legal and regulated as a financial product. Since the FSCA's 2022 declaration under the FAIS Act, crypto asset service providers (CASPs) must be licensed, and about 300 had been approved by Dec 2025. The FIC travel rule (Directive 9) has applied since Apr 2025, and the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework took effect on 1 Mar 2026. A 2025 High Court ruling held that crypto falls outside exchange control; it is suspended pending a SARB appeal. Treasury and the SARB responded with draft Capital Flow Management Regulations (Apr 2026) and a cross-border Crypto Assets Manual (Aug 2026), but after heavy industry pushback the Finance Minister said in Oct 2026 that both will be rewritten. A rand stablecoin, ZARU, launched for institutional users in Feb 2026.

Legislation