South Africa Cracks Down on Cross-Border Crypto Transfers

The South African Reserve Bank has proposed new rules for cross-border cryptocurrency transfers to align digital assets with existing exchange controls.

The draft legislation mandates that all crypto assets transferred out of South Africa must pass through licensed local crypto asset service providers, ensuring national regulators can track international movements of digital wealth.

The proposal also requires every cross-border transaction to be reported to the Financial Surveillance Department (FinSurv) of the Reserve Bank. This applies to assets moving from a licensed platform to a foreign provider or transferred to private self-custody wallets.