Overview
- The National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank published a draft Crypto Asset Manual on Monday that makes cross-border crypto transfers reportable to the Reserve Bank’s Financial Surveillance Department.
- A transfer becomes a regulated cross-border event when assets move from a local authorised Crypto Asset Service Provider to an offshore provider or into a private non‑custodial wallet, while buying or selling crypto in rand through a local provider is exempt from reporting.
- The draft allows only individuals to externalise crypto within existing foreign allowance limits — the Single Discretionary Allowance of R2 million a year and the Foreign Capital Allowance up to R10 million a year — and generally bars resident entities from such transfers.
- The manual proposes three CASP categories and sets customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, record keeping, minimum capital, inspection powers and penalties to align with anti‑money‑laundering and international reporting standards.
- Public comments are open until September 30 and regulators will review submissions before finalising rules that build on April’s capital flow proposals and the legal gap exposed by a 2025 High Court ruling.