{"id":653448,"date":"2026-06-11T09:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T07:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=653448"},"modified":"2026-06-11T10:01:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:01:34","slug":"luno-sends-warning-to-the-south-african-reserve-bank-and-national-treasury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cryptocurrency\/653448-luno-sends-warning-to-the-south-african-reserve-bank-and-national-treasury.html","title":{"rendered":"Luno sends warning to the South African Reserve Bank and National Treasury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Luno CEO James Lanigan said the proposed new Capital Flow Management Regulations from the Reserve Bank and National Treasury could inhibit stablecoin use in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanigan explained that the regulations would likely prohibit businesses from using stablecoins to make cross-border payments and repatriate funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would lock South Africans out of significant economic benefits, as stablecoins provided low-cost instant payment solutions and deep liquidity, particularly in dollar-strapped African markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said they provided low-cost instant payment solutions and deep liquidity, particularly in dollar-strapped African markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLocal stablecoins are critical infrastructure to support domestic payments and treasury flows, while dollar stablecoins provide a fast bridge to global commerce and cross-border settlement,\u201d said Lanigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTogether, they reduce friction, lower costs, and make money move more efficiently at home and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank published the proposed regulations<\/a> for public comment on 17 April 2026, with comments initially due by 18 May 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following criticism from the industry and other interested parties, the regulators extended the deadline to 30 June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regulations are intended to replace the Exchange Control Regulations of 1961 and bring crypto assets into South Africa\u2019s capital flow management framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treasury said the draft rules would modernise exchange controls by reducing pre-approvals, increasing reporting, and enhancing surveillance of high-impact, high-risk cross-border transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in truth, the proposed regulations contained provisions that would allow Treasury to expropriate crypto assets from investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regulations would allow government to restrict how much crypto people are allowed to own, and force them to liquidate assets into Rands when they exceed the as-yet-unspecified threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Reserve Bank and Treasury attempted to assuage fears in a statement issued on 15 May, assuring that the intention was not to criminalise possession of crypto assets or undermine private ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also assured that the regulations would not be applied retrospectively. However, they also said the clarity stakeholders needed would only be contained in a later document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA proposed cross-border crypto asset framework, in the form of a draft manual, will soon be released for public comment to complement the draft regulations,\u201d they stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis draft manual will provide clarity on the proposed activities that would result in a crypto asset transaction being considered as cross-border.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, until the draft manual is published, stakeholders have only the bare Capital Flow Management Regulations to comment on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stablecoins have become new payment rails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lanigan said that stablecoins have become the payment rails of the modern digital economy, providing one of the clearest examples of how digital assets are integrating with traditional finance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that for local businesses whose treasury, revenues, expenses and reporting are all rand-based, a rand stablecoin can provide a seamless and cost-effective payment solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rand-backed stablecoin, ZARU, was launched in 2025 in a partnership between Lesaka, Easy Equities, Sanlam Specialised Asset Management, BlockTower, and Luno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ZARP is another such stablecoin. It was launched in 2021 and appointed Old Mutual Wealth<\/a> to manage its cash reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is essential that South Africa moves, through thoughtful revision of the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations, to unlock the economic growth potential of stablecoins,\u201d said Lanigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout the integration of stablecoins into the local financial mainstream, South Africa will limit its competitiveness in the modern economic system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanigan said the world\u2019s financial infrastructure was moving rapidly on-chain, led by some of the largest multinational financial organisations in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These included Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, and Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale. Meanwhile, South Africa was falling behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanigan warned that unless regulators course-correct, South Africa would fall further behind as the rest of the world upgrades its financial infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulations must allow stablecoins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana flanked by Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago and former SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lanigan said it was essential that South African regulation allow this modern payment system, which can be used to increase capital flows into South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStablecoins are already settling more value annually than Visa and Mastercard combined. This is driven by the use of crypto by businesses, in addition to ordinary investors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStablecoins accounted for $33 trillion in payments and blockchain transfers in 2025, according to data shared by Bloomberg. This is almost double the $17 trillion in spending facilitated by Visa in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike traditional payment systems that rely on multiple intermediaries, stablecoins offer a much more efficient way for businesses to move money domestically and across borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanigan said South African businesses with operations elsewhere in Africa approach Luno almost daily seeking ways to use stablecoins to move funds between subsidiaries and repatriate profits back to South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is due to a shortage of foreign currency on the continent and the difficulty of moving money out of certain African countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the absence of banking reporting codes and regulatory frameworks for stablecoin transactions currently prevents these activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African businesses are reluctant to use stablecoins for cross-border transactions and repatriation of funds from the rest of Africa because the regulations do not expressly provide for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This reduces payment flows into the country and undermines local businesses, ultimately reducing tax revenue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luno CEO James Lanigan said proposed new Capital Flow Management Regulations could lock South Africans out of significant economic benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":653451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44696],"tags":[105395,85035,42992,12285,23511],"class_list":["post-653448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-capital-flow-management-regulations","tag-james-lanigan","tag-luno","tag-national-treasury","tag-south-african-reserve-bank-sarb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":653454,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653448\/revisions\/653454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}