CATASTROPHE Alliance warns that proposed regulations will severely damage South Africa's progress (

South Africa's CATASTROPHE Alliance launches national activities: Warning of potential catastrophic consequences of draft restrictive cross-border regulations

Johannesburg, South Africa, September 9, 2026 --CATASTROPHE (The Crypto Assets Working Group, which promotes sound, technology-neutral regulation to promote opportunity, prosperity and a healthy economy) today launched a national campaign aimed at highlighting the unexpected and harmful consequences that the newly proposed cross-border regulations will have for South Africa if they become law.

The alliance brings together many leading licensed crypto asset service providers (CASPs) and other organizations, including VALR, Luno, AltCoinTrader and EasyEquities, as well as professors, lawyers, economists, entrepreneurs and members of the general public. CATASTROPHE warned that restrictive draft rules would harm domestic businesses and jobs, slow economic participation and isolate South Africa from the global digital economy.

Two key issues in the proposed draft

The draft framework issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of South Africa introduces two main restrictions:

• Banning companies from using cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments: South African companies will be banned from using regulated crypto channels for otherwise legal international transactions, which will put local companies at a serious disadvantage in global competition.
• Limit personal self-hosting:While individuals can withdraw assets from local CASPs into personal self-managed wallets, transferring these assets back to regulated South African platforms will be designated as "unacceptable." This creates an arbitrary one-way exit outside the domestic regulated ecosystem and will force legal activities underground or overseas.

According to data from the CATASTROPHE website, if these regulations are implemented as currently drafted, thousands of jobs in South Africa will be threatened, millions of South African citizens who hold cryptocurrencies will be adversely affected, and billions of rand in taxes paid to the South African Revenue Authority (SARS) may disappear.

Alternatives: Advocate for fair and technology-neutral regulation

As an alternative, CATASTROPHE recommends that South Africa should uniformly regulate equivalent cross-border economic activities. Banks, authorized dealers, and authorized crypto asset service providers may use different technologies, but equivalent activities should be subject to the same licensing, reporting obligations, and regulatory results.

At the MTN Group Fintech 2026 Summit last week, Reserve Bank of South Africa President Lesetja Kganyago said: "The principle is simple: whether it is a bank or a fintech company performing similar payment activity, it should be subject to similar regulatory expectations."

The CATASTROPHE Alliance emphasized that if this principle is not applied to cross-border payments, it will deviate from the principles of sound and technology-neutral supervision and be inconsistent with the principles elaborated by the president himself. Essentially, CATASTROPHE calls for creating a level playing field for cross-border payments that does not discriminate against any particular technology. Regulation should be fair and oriented to the interests of South African consumers and businesses, promoting competition, innovation and choice.

Risk of disconnection with global financial progress

These proposed regulations come at a time when the stablecoin and digital asset tracks are expanding exponentially around the world, leading to faster transaction speeds, lower cross-border costs and greater transparency-all benefits that could have benefited South African individuals and businesses.

Global financial institutions are investing billions of dollars in stablecoin infrastructure. Since last year, payments giant Stripe has acquired one stablecoin business for $1.1 billion, and global card group Mastercard has acquired another for $1.8 billion. Visa and major banks around the world have also announced major blockchain settlement plans. While the rest of the world is integrating modern digital payment tracks, current draft regulations threaten to prevent South African businesses and residents from benefiting from these global advances.

According to the event, billions of rand of foreign investment into South Africa have been suspended until the outcome of these draft regulations is clear.

Call to Action

CATASTROPHE advocates the establishment of a policy framework based on technology neutrality. Whether traditional banking infrastructure or blockchain technology is used, equal economic activities must receive equal regulatory treatment.

CATASTROPHE invites all South African individuals and businesses to support the event by signing at catastrophe.co.za, and the public comment period will end on September 30, 2026.

The support process takes only a few seconds. Individuals can add voice to initiatives, companies can upload their corporate logos and support technology-neutral regulation alongside industry peers.

About CATASTROPHE

CATASTROPHE (the Crypto Assets Working Group that promotes robust, technology-neutral regulation to promote opportunity, prosperity and a healthy economy) is a single target alliance of South African licensed CASPs, institutions, technology start-ups, law firms and members of the public. CATASTROPHE was established to advocate balanced, risk-based rules for the flow of funds and will be disbanded once its goal of achieving better regulatory results for South Africa is achieved.