2025 RECAP | South Africa Had Approved 300 Crypto Firms Out of 512 Applications as of December 2025

South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has approved 300 crypto asset service providers (CASPs) since the country formally began licensing the sector in mid-2023, underscoring both rapid industry uptake and intensified regulatory scrutiny .

The licensing process, which commenced on 1 June 2023 under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act, had received a total of 512 CASP license applications as of 12 December 2025. Of these, 300 applications were approved, 14 were declined, while 121 were voluntarily withdrawn after engagements with the regulator regarding business and operating models.

The remaining applications are still under review.

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Why Some Applications Were Declined

According to the FSCA, license rejections have largely stemmed from applicants failing to meet fit and proper requirements under the FAIS Act.

Key shortcomings included:

• Weak operational capacity – such as unclear or incomplete business plans, and
• Inability to demonstrate sufficient technical knowledge and practical experience in crypto assets.

Entities that withdrew or had their applications declined may re-apply in the future, provided they can demonstrate full compliance. Until then, they are prohibited from conducting any CASP-related activities as defined under the FAIS Act.

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Crackdown on Unlicensed Crypto Operators

Enforcement activity has also accelerated. The FSCA has launched 81 investigations into suspected unlicensed crypto businesses. Of these, 25 cases were closed – primarily because the entities stopped operating or were dormant – while 56 investigations remain ongoing.

The regulator warned that any person or institution offering crypto services without a licence will face enforcement action.

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AML, CFT, and Supervisory Inspections Underway

Beyond licensing, the FSCA is supervising CASPs for compliance with anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CFT) and countering proliferation financing (CFP) obligations under the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Act.

Between January and March 2025, the authority conducted its first 10 supervisory inspections, focusing on governance structures, risk management and compliance programmes, and business risk assessments. A further 30 inspections were scheduled between April 2025 and March 2026, with 21 already completed at the time of reporting.

Most of these inspections assess whether newly licensed CASPs can meet their regulatory obligations in line with their inherent AML/CFT/CFP risk profiles.

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Industry Engagement and Exam Deadline

In August 2025, the FSCA launched the Crypto Asset Supervisory Engagement Forum (CASEF) to facilitate regular engagement with industry players. The forum is designed to:

• Improve information sharing
• Align supervisory expectations, and
• Deepen understanding of emerging risks and trends

in the crypto sector.

The regulator also confirmed that the regulatory examination exemption initially granted to CASPs expired on June 30 2025, following a final extension from November 2024. All licensed CASPs and their key individuals were required to meet the regulatory exam standards set out in Board Notice 194 of 2017 by that date.

Failure to comply could result in licence suspension or withdrawal under the FAIS Act.

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Crypto Still Not Legal Tender

The FSCA reiterated that its mandate does not extend to recognising crypto assets as legal tender. The South African Reserve Bank does not classify crypto assets as currency, and the FSCA’s authority is limited to regulating financial services related to crypto, such as advisory, intermediary, and investment management services.

Crypto assets are defined as digital representations of value that are not issued by a central bank, use cryptographic techniques and distributed ledger technology, and can be traded, transferred or stored electronically for payment, investment, or utility purposes.

The full list of licensed CASPs, including firms that later exited the crypto market or had licences withdrawn or lapsed, is available on the FSCA’s website.

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