South Africa’s National Treasury has published draft regulations that would pull cryptocurrency into the country’s capital flow framework, forcing holders to declare assets above a threshold and surrender private keys to enforcement officers on demand.

The Draft Capital Flow Management Regulations 2026, published this week, would replace South Africa’s 1961 exchange control rules and carry fines of up to R1 million or five years in prison for non-compliance.

Declarations, Key Disclosures, and Seizure Powers

Under Regulation 25(5) of the draft, officers could compel any person to hand over passwords, PINs, or private keys needed to access crypto assets. Refusing would be a criminal offence.

Residents holding Bitcoin (BTC) or other crypto…