TL;DRSouth Africa’s Reserve Bank and National Treasury have proposed banning companies from making cross-border stablecoin transfers, while leaving individual allowances of up to R2m intact. Exchanges including VALR and Luno have objected, with Luno signalling a possible legal challenge if Treasury bypasses parliament.
South Africa has proposed banning corporate cross-border stablecoin transactions, in draft rules released jointly by the Reserve Bank and National Treasury. It is one of the most aggressive attempts by any emerging economy to force borderless digital tokens back inside decades-old exchange control machinery.
Under the proposal, South African companies could not make cross-border crypto transfers at all. Incoming payments from private wallets would be blocked, and outgoing transfers would count as an offshore capital move triggering exchange control limits.
The individual-corporate split
Individuals are largely untouched. They can still move up to 2 million rand, roughly $120,000, abroad annually without pre-clearance, and up to 10 million rand with tax authority approval.
