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South Africa’s regulation of crypto assets is moving beyond licensing and anti-money laundering compliance into one of the more difficult areas of the market: cross-border value transfer. National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (“SARB”) have published the draft Crypto Asset Manual for cross-border activities for public comment. The draft Manual accompanies the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations, 2026 and explains who may facilitate cross-border crypto asset transactions, when a transaction becomes cross-border, and what must be reported to the Financial Surveillance Department (“FinSurv”).
For crypto asset service providers (“CASPs”), the draft Manual Introduces an additional authorisation requirement. A South African CASP may already be required to register with the Financial Intelligence Centre and hold an appropriate licence from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. Under the proposed framework, however, those approvals would not, on their own, permit it to facilitate cross-border crypto asset transactions. A CASP wishing to do so would also need to be authorised by National Treasury, through FinSurv, as an Authorised CASP.
The draft Manual provides welcome clarity on the point at which a crypto asset transaction would be regarded as cross-border. The proposed trigger would arise when crypto assets are transferred between a domestic Authorised CASP and an offshore CASP, or from a domestic Authorised CASP to a non-custodial wallet, resulting in an inward or outward flow. By contrast, purchasing or selling crypto assets for rand through a domestic Authorised CASP would remain domestic where the assets stay within the local regulated environment. Transfers between domestic Authorised CASPs would also be treated as domestic and would not be reportable to FinSurv.
The proposed framework therefore does not treat every crypto transaction as a capital flow event. It focuses on the moment when the assets, or control over them, move beyond the domestic regulatory perimeter.
At this stage, the ability to externalise crypto assets would largely be limited to resident individuals. They would be permitted to transfer crypto assets offshore through an Authorised CASP within the applicable single discretionary allowance or foreign capital allowance. The draft Manual sets the single discretionary allowance at R2 million per individual per calendar year and provides for a foreign capital allowance of up to ZAR10 million per calendar year for a qualifying taxpayer who meets the relevant age and tax compliance requirements.
The position for South African entities is more restrictive. Entities would be permitted to purchase, hold and sell crypto assets through domestic Authorised CASPs and transfer those assets between domestic Authorised CASPs. They would not, however, be permitted to externalise crypto assets under the proposed framework at this stage. This is likely to receive close attention from businesses using crypto assets for treasury management, settlement or investment.
The draft Manual proposes three categories of Authorised CASPs. A Category One Authorised CASP would facilitate specified remittance transactions between individuals using crypto assets as the settlement medium. These transactions would generally be limited to ZAR5 000 per transaction per day andZA R25 000 per applicant per calendar month. A Category Two Authorised CASP would offer South African custodial wallets capable of facilitating specified cross-border crypto asset transactions. A Category Three Authorised CASP would be permitted to conduct both categories of activity.
Becoming an Authorised CASP would involve far more than completing an application form. Applicants would need to provide detailed information on ownership, beneficial owners, directors, governance, transaction monitoring, client asset arrangements, private-key management, outsourcing, third-party service providers and the proposed implementation of the FinSurv Reporting System.
The financial requirements are equally significant. An Authorised CASP would be required to maintain unimpaired capital equal to the higher of ZAR5 million or 15% of its average positive annual gross income over the preceding three years. That amount would have to be held in a segregated rand-denominated savings or investment account and remain unencumbered throughout the Authorised CASP’s operations. For smaller or early-stage businesses, this may present a significant compliance and capital commitment.
Once authorised, CASPs would face detailed reporting, recordkeeping and supervisory obligations. Cross-border crypto asset transactions would have to be reported to FinSurv regardless of value. Records would need to capture the parties, wallet identifiers, transaction hash, crypto asset amount, exchange rate, rand equivalent and purpose of the transaction, and would generally have to be retained for at least five years.
Authorised CASPs would also have to make regular submissions relating to staff competence, training, financial statements, unimpaired capital and their risk management and compliance programmes. FinSurv would have the right to request information and conduct inspections.
The draft Manual is therefore a meaningful step towards a workable capital flow management framework for crypto assets. It recognises that crypto assets can move value across borders without using traditional banking channels but does not propose a blanket prohibition. Instead, it creates a controlled route through authorised intermediaries, prescribed allowances and direct reporting to FinSurv.
The final commercial impact will depend on how the framework develops after consultation. The treatment of non-custodial wallets, the restriction on corporate externalisation, the capital requirement and the reporting burden are all likely to attract comment. The draft Manual also records that it has not yet incorporated comments already submitted on the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations and that both documents remain subject to refinement.
Interested parties have until close of business on 30 September 2026 to submit written comments in the prescribed format. For CASPs, fintech businesses and other participants in the digital asset market, this is an important opportunity to test whether the proposed framework reflects the commercial and technical realities of cross-border crypto activity.
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Read the original publication at ENS
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