South Africa to Rewrite Draft Crypto Rules After Backlash

South Africa's finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, said on October 21, 2026 that the National Treasury and the Reserve Bank will rewrite their April draft rules for crypto assets. The reason was "thousands of comments" on the proposal, according to TechCentral and Bitcoin.com News.

Details

The draft Capital Flow Management Regulations were published for comment on April 17. They were meant to replace the 1961 Exchange Control Regulations and, for the first time, formally bring crypto assets into the country's capital-flow framework. TechCentral reports the draft included written declarations for every crypto purchase, broad search-and-seizure powers, penalties of up to R1 million and five years in prison, and a ban on companies moving crypto across borders.

In his medium-term budget policy statement, Godongwana said: "It is clear that we need to take a different approach to these amendments." He said the government should shift away from pre-approvals and instead assess transactions for legitimacy and tax compliance. The new approach is to follow Financial Stability Board recommendations.

No timeline for the second draft was given, and the minister did not say which provisions will change. Local platforms including Luno and VALR had pushed back on the proposal.

What this means for the market

This is a rethink of a draft, not a final rule, so the eventual regime is unknown. For South African users and exchanges, the key question is whether limits on transfers between local providers and offshore platforms or self-custody wallets survive. That will only become clear once the revised draft is published.

For the current market picture, see the daily brief and the Bitcoin page.