By the end of 2025, it had become clear, even to the most hardened sceptics, that digital assets, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology were no longer on the fringe of the traditional finance system but rather embedded in global finance, investment markets and payment systems.
The real question for 2026 is whether South Africa’s regulatory framework will evolve quickly enough to allow the economy, industry and ordinary citizens to benefit from this shift.
Globally, institutional finance has already accepted bitcoin as a mainstream savings and investment vehicle and blockchain tech is being included in payment systems. In 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Since then, the world’s largest asset managers have invested in bitcoin ETFs that track the price of bitcoin. The bitcoin ETF managed by world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has attracted about US$70-billion (R1.1-trillion) in investment.
In addition to investing in crypto: blockchains – decentralised, transparent ledgers that enable near-instant settlement – are now being used in mainstream payment systems.
Blockchain-based payments, which happen in real time, reduce settlement risk and transaction costs, which is why global payment providers such as Visa and Mastercard are actively investing in blockchain infrastructure for digital payments.
Visa and Mastercard have also been integrating stablecoins, which allow instant payments across borders, into their networks. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value, usually by being pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar, making them suitable for payments and settlement. Stablecoins pegged to the rand will allow the currency to be traded 24/7 while the rands remain in South Africa generating wealth and income for the country.
Tokenisation
The financial world is also embracing tokenisation, the process of converting real-world assets or rights, such as money, property or securities, into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain. Tokenisation enables faster settlement, greater transparency, 24/7 trade outside of stock exchange hours and fractional ownership, while reducing reliance on intermediaries.
However, as interest in blockchains, tokenisation, stablecoins and bitcoin surges, South Africa risks falling behind these global developments, to the detriment of wealth creation and the national fiscus. While crypto asset service providers are now licensed as financial service providers, significant barriers still prevent mainstream participation in crypto investing, particularly for ordinary savers who rely on regulated advice and institutional vehicles.
Read: Visa moves to plug stablecoins into the global payments system
Most notably, “collective investment schemes” – which include hedge funds and unit trusts – are prohibited from investing in digital assets under a regulation titled Board Notice 90. The result is that managed funds, unit trusts and discretionary portfolios cannot provide any exposure to bitcoin, despite it being the best-performing asset of the past decade.
Savers who invest through payroll deductions or institutional retirement vehicles are excluded entirely from crypto gains, while those who do want exposure must navigate the market alone, without professional guidance or portfolio construction support.
This regulatory gap has consequences. It concentrates crypto participation among retail investors acting independently, rather than allowing measured, diversified exposure within regulated structures. It also deprives South Africa’s asset management industry of the ability to innovate responsibly in line with global peers.
There is also continued uncertainty around exchange controls. It remains unclear whether bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies should be treated as an onshore or offshore asset, creating hesitation among investors and compliance teams alike, as they do not know whether investment is subject to strict exchange controls. Ambiguity is rarely neutral; it tends to suppress legitimate activity rather than curb risk.
The South African government has an opportunity to bring the country in line with global best practice, without abandoning prudence and customer protection. Practical steps in 2026 could make a meaningful difference to individual investors and the country as a whole.
Firstly, policymakers should explicitly recognise that digital assets are becoming mainstream portfolio components globally, with bitcoin increasingly viewed as a store of value rather than a speculative novelty. This does not require endorsement, only acceptance that digital assets can sit alongside stocks, bonds, property and cash in a diversified portfolio.
This means digital assets held on South African licensed platforms should be clearly designated as onshore, removing unnecessary exchange control friction and encouraging capital to remain within the domestic regulatory perimeter.
Additionally, Board Notice 90 should be revised. Allowing collective investment schemes like hedge funds and unit trusts limited, regulated exposure to crypto assets would bring professional oversight, risk management and transparency into a space currently dominated by unsupervised retail participation.
Stablecoins
Next, stablecoins deserve particular attention. Properly structured, rand-backed or rand-linked stablecoins can strengthen demand for local currency or government bonds, while allowing South African capital to participate in global, 24-hour digital trading markets without rands that support stablecoins leaving the domestic financial system.
Finally, tax compliance should be embedded, not feared. Automated backend reporting of taxable gains to the South African Revenue Service, coupled with a transparent working relationship between regulators, platforms and the South African Revenue Service, would normalise crypto activity rather than drive it underground.
Crypto regulation must be fair, measured and timely. Regulatory certainty encourages compliance and investment; prolonged ambiguity does the opposite.
Read: An inflection point for crypto in South Africa
South Africa has the regulatory capacity and financial sophistication to get this right. Supporting the cryptocurrency industry does not mean abandoning caution; it means recognising reality and shaping it in the public interest. The countries that benefit most from digital assets will not be those that resist them longest, but those that regulate them clearly, fairly and with confidence.
- The author, Marius Reitz, is Luno GM Africa and Europe
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