How to Buy Bitcoin in South Africa

Is It Legal to Buy Bitcoin in South Africa?

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency have moved beyond South Africa’s previous legal gray area into a fully regulated framework. Crypto assets are now recognized as financial products under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS), and service providers must obtain licenses from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). As of March 2024, the FSCA had approved 59 crypto operating licenses, establishing South Africa as one of Africa’s most regulated crypto markets.
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The regulatory framework requires crypto exchanges to verify customer identities and register as accountable institutions under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. Starting April 30, 2025, Crypto Asset Service Providers must also comply with the “Travel Rule,” tracking detailed transaction information for both originators and beneficiaries. This aligns South Africa with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force.
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Cryptocurrency is not considered legal tender in South Africa, meaning businesses have no legal obligation to accept Bitcoin or other digital assets as payment. However, a landmark May 2025 court ruling determined that cryptocurrencies do not constitute “capital” under South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations, meaning crypto transfers are not subject to the country’s strict exchange control laws.

Can I Use Cash to Buy Bitcoin in South Africa?

South Africa is one of the locations around the world where people are often interested in purchasing their cryptocurrency with cash. Anyone who has been tracking the growth of various peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchanges over the years will have definitely noticed the massive growth in Africa and South America that these sorts of exchanges have experienced recently. Nearly a third of South Africans do not have bank accounts, which means the ability to conduct trade via cash-based transactions is still of the utmost importance.

The best way to buy Bitcoin in South Africa using cash is to conduct the transaction with someone directly. After all, this sort of transaction tends to come with fees much higher than what is found on traditional, online cryptocurrency exchanges, so it’s best to cut out the middleman whenever possible. There’s nothing wrong with using a platform like Paxful or a Bitcoin ATM when purchasing cryptocurrency for the first time, but you’ll eventually want to find alternative options that can be found via the various local Bitcoin meetup groups or Telegram groups. Bitcoin ATMs are available in the largest cities around South Africa, but these usually have fees of at least 5% associated with them.

What is the Best Cryptocurrency Exchange to Buy Bitcoin in South Africa?

A few of the major, global cryptocurrency exchanges are available in South Africa; however, Luno is generally viewed as the best option for buying Bitcoin in South Africa. While you will not be able to buy some of the more niche tokens via this marketplace, Luno can be used as your gateway to the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem via a direct connection with your bank account. This is not an exchange that only focuses on South Africa, but they do tend to focus on the African and South Asian markets more than anywhere else.

You will need to verify your account if you’re going to be trading large volumes via Luno, but the good news is that fees on this platform are extremely low. In fact, there are no fees for making deposits and withdrawals on Luno.

If you’re interested in trading coins other than Bitcoin and Ethereum, then you may want to create a Binance account in addition to your Luno account. Once you purchase some Bitcoin via Luno, you can then transfer it to Binance to use it as the base currency of your trading on that secondary platform.

Can I Buy Bitcoin in South Africa with a Credit Card?

It can be tricky to buy cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin in South Africa with a credit card. You will generally find that platforms that offer this feature will only allow you to purchase Bitcoin. You can generally trade that Bitcoin for an altcoin quite easily. Another issue is that the fees for this sort of transaction tend to be very high. It is recommended that you connect your bank account to an exchange like Luno or Kraken to purchase your cryptocurrencies rather than using a credit card due to these high fees. Credit card-based trades also tend to have pretty low limits, which means you won’t be able to do a lot of buying on a regular basis if you’re someone who is making large-value transactions.

Despite all of these issues, there are still some situations where buying Bitcoin in South Africa with a credit card will be your only option. If that’s the case, then Coinmama will be a valuable option, as they’re available in almost every country around the world.