South Africa will revise proposed regulations governing cross-border cryptocurrency transactions after receiving thousands of public comments, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said.

In mid-2026, the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) invited interested parties to submit written comments on the draft Crypto Assets Manual for cross-border activities, referred to as the draft Manual. The call for input was issued in a press release from the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank.

The draft rules, developed by the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank, sought to bring crypto transfers under the country's exchange-control framework to improve oversight of capital flows and combat illicit financial activity. Exchange control is the long-standing regime South Africa uses to regulate how capital crosses its borders, so the draft would have subjected crypto transfers to the same oversight applied to other cross-border capital movements. The stated goal of the new rules was to prevent financial crime and capital flight conducted via blockchain.

However, the proposals drew criticism from crypto businesses over restrictions on cross-border payments, stablecoin transactions, and transfers to self-custody wallets, in which users hold their crypto directly rather than through an intermediary. Critics raised concerns that the rules could limit legitimate activity and push transactions into unregulated channels. According to critics, the overly restrictive nature of the regulations would have had the opposite effect of what was intended and would have harmed legitimate users.

A coalition known as CATASTROPHE — the Crypto Asset Taskforce for Advancing Sound, Technology-Neutral Regulation for Opportunity, Prosperity and a Healthy Economy — launched a national campaign to highlight the unintended adverse consequences for South Africa if the newly proposed cross-border regulations became law. In a press release published by BitcoinKE, the coalition said it brings together many leading regulated Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) and other organizations, including VALR, Luno, AltCoinTrader, and EasyEquities, as well as professors, lawyers, economists, entrepreneurs, and many other members of the public.

CATASTROPHE claims that the restrictive draft rules will harm domestic enterprises and jobs, slow economic participation, and isolate South Africa from the global digital economy. Other industry voices also participated in the consultation: MoneyBadger published an expert opinion on the draft capital flow management regulations arguing that oversight should focus where it matters most.

Godongwana addressed the backlash in his October 2026 budget statement.

“We must aim to shift away from pre-approvals. Instead, we must assess transactions for legitimacy and tax compliance,” he said. “The treatment of crypto assets should also be guided by the recommendations from the Financial Stability Board.”

The Financial Stability Board is the international body that coordinates financial regulatory standards across jurisdictions, and its global recommendations for crypto assets are intended to give national authorities a common regulatory baseline for the sector.

The government will now begin consultations on a revised second draft of the regulations, with the treatment of crypto assets guided by the Financial Stability Board's recommendations. The move marks a shift away from the draft's pre-approval-based approach toward assessing transactions for legitimacy and tax compliance. The milestone to watch next is the publication of the revised draft and the opening of its consultation, which will show how the Treasury and the SARB translate the move away from pre-approvals into a legitimacy and tax-compliance test for cross-border transfers. BitcoinKE has also examined why South Africa is re-writing decades-old money rules as part of the broader overhaul.