The questions
people actually ask.
Grouped so you can find yours. Where an answer depends on a statute we name the statute, and where it depends on our own policy we say so. The regulatory answers describe South Africa, the market this desk has an office in. If yours is not here, ask a dealer — the list grows from real conversations.
About the desk
What this company is, what it does, and what it deliberately does not do.
We run an over-the-counter desk: we buy and sell crypto assets for South African rand at a rate agreed before execution, settled through a bank. That is the entire business. We take no deposits, manage no funds, pay no interest and publish no trading signals. The mechanics are on the OTC exchange page.
None of the three. An exchange has an order book and accounts you fund; we have neither. You do not open an account or hold a balance with us — the asset moves through settlement for a specific trade and then it is done. The full sequence is on how it works.
Yes. The Cape Town base is Tiny Empire, 37 Buitenkant Street, District Six, 7925, and meetings there are by arrangement. Johannesburg is by appointment only. For a large first trade, meeting usually saves everyone time — see the Cape Town office page.
No. The desk does not run client balances between trades; each leg of a settlement goes where it is meant to go for that specific transaction. How the process is protected end to end is set out on the security page.
The desk is built for size, and the spread narrows as the ticket grows. Current minimums and the margin ladder are published on the fees and limits page rather than quoted differently in every conversation.
No. Advice on a financial product is a separately licensed activity in South Africa, and tax advice belongs with a registered tax practitioner. We will explain how a trade works and exactly what it costs. We will not tell you whether to make it, or when.
Rates and fees
Where the number comes from and who earns what on it.
From the VALR and Luno order books, through our own /api/rates endpoint, cached at the edge. They are indicative South African market data rather than a global average. The live table sits on the rates page.
Because it is a different market. A global price is a dollar price in a dollar market; a South African price is a rand price in a rand market, and the two are separated by a banking system, exchange control and the working hours of the people who arbitrage between them. Quoting you the global number would be quoting a market you cannot actually trade in.
An indicative rate is a sizing tool and binds nobody. A firm quote is issued by a dealer in writing, holds for an agreed window, and binds both sides once you accept it in writing. Everything published on this website — the calculator, the ticker, the rate tables — is indicative.
On the margin built into the quoted rate. No handling charge appears after the fact. The margin structure and every other charge you might meet are set out on the fees and limits page.
A network fee is paid to the network, not to us, and is always borne by the side sending the asset. Bank charges for EFT, RTC or PayShap are set by your bank. A firm quote states all of it before you accept, so the net figure is the figure that arrives.
We do not publish comparative rate claims, and you are entitled to be suspicious of anyone who does without a published methodology. Section 14 of the FAIS General Code of Conduct requires advertising to be factually correct and balanced. We will happily compare service models with any desk; we will not compare prices we cannot evidence.
Onboarding and documents
What the FIC Act requires, and why it happens once rather than every time.
Identity — an ID book or card, or a passport with a visa or permit; proof of residential address issued within the last three months; proof of a bank account in your own name; and source of funds for the amount concerned. Companies and trusts add registration documents, an authorising resolution and beneficial-owner details. The complete list, item by item, is on the onboarding page.
Because section 21 of the FIC Act requires customer due diligence and section 21A requires enhanced due diligence where risk is higher. We have been an accountable institution under Item 22 of Schedule 1 to the FIC Act since 19 December 2022. Any South African desk offering to skip this is either breaking the law or is not what it claims to be.
Usually under an hour once the documents are in hand, assuming they are legible and current. Delays are almost always a proof of address older than three months, or a bank account in a name that does not match the client.
Yes. We need the registration documents, a resolution authorising the transaction, and identification of directors, trustees and beneficial owners. Treasury balances, supplier invoices in USDT and payroll funding are covered on the business and treasury page.
It is not a bar, it is a different level of scrutiny. Sections 21F to 21H of the FIC Act require enhanced due diligence for domestic and foreign prominent public officials and their close associates. In practice that means more questions about source of funds and a longer onboarding.
No. Rand settles to a bank account in the client’s own name and arrives from an account in the same name. We do not make third-party payments. The single exception is a conveyancing attorney’s trust account against a signed agreement of sale — see property purchases.
Settlement and payments
How the money and the coins actually move. The bank rails below are the South African ones — the market this desk has an office in and knows best. Settlement in any other currency is confirmed before a quote is given.
By bank transfer to an account in your own name: EFT for size, RTC when timing matters, PayShap for smaller amounts within your bank’s ceiling. Which rail suits which situation is explained on the settlement page.
USDT on TRC-20, ERC-20, BEP-20 and Solana; USDC on ERC-20, Solana and Base; BTC on Bitcoin and Lightning; ETH on Ethereum, Arbitrum and Base. The network is confirmed in writing before you send anything, because a transfer on an unsupported network is usually unrecoverable. Detail on the stablecoin desk page.
Same business day is the norm for a quote accepted during dealing hours. The network confirms in minutes; the banking system runs on its own windows, so RTC lands almost immediately within banking hours while an EFT can take longer depending on your bank and the amount.
No. Settlement is through the banking system only. We also do not split transactions: cash transactions above R49,999.99 are reportable to the Financial Intelligence Centre under section 28 of the FIC Act, and structuring an amount to stay under a threshold is itself an offence.
A written confirmation carrying the reference, the rate applied, the gross and net amounts and the settlement rail. That is what an accountant needs and what a tax calculation is built from. We keep the underlying records for five years, as sections 22 and 23 of the FIC Act require.
We settle rand into a conveyancing attorney’s trust account against a signed agreement of sale. We are not an estate agent, we do not transfer property and we do not give legal advice — the boundaries are set out on the property purchase page.
Regulation and tax
The law that actually applies to your transaction, with the instrument named. This group describes South African law specifically — the market this desk has an office in.
Yes, and they are regulated. General Notice 1350, published in Government Gazette 47334 on 19 October 2022, declared a crypto asset a financial product under the FAIS Act. It is not legal tender, but it is not a grey area either.
Our regulatory position, registration details and links to the FSCA and CIPC public registers are published on the compliance page so you can check rather than take our word for it. The transitional exemption for unlicensed operators closed on 30 November 2023.
FIC Directive 9 of 2024 implements the FATF Travel Rule and has been in force since 30 April 2025, with no minimum threshold: originator and beneficiary information travels with every transfer whatever its size. Below R5,000 a reduced information set applies and the ordering institution need not verify it — that is verification relief, not anonymity, and nobody should sell it to you as privacy.
Assume yes. South Africa adopted the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework from 1 March 2026, with the first return due to SARS by 31 May 2027. SARS treats crypto assets as assets of an intangible nature, taxed on revenue or capital account under ordinary principles. We do not give tax advice and we will not help anyone pretend the reporting is not happening. The tax guide explains the framework in plain language.
The supply of a crypto asset is a deemed financial service and is exempt from VAT under section 2(1) of the VAT Act. A separate service fee can still attract VAT — where that applies, it is stated in the quote before you accept it.
No. SARB Financial Surveillance will not approve cross-border transfers for the purpose of purchasing crypto assets, and buying crypto in South Africa in order to externalise capital contravenes the Exchange Control Regulations and is a criminal offence. The single discretionary allowance of R2 million and the R10 million foreign capital allowance are fiat mechanisms; value cannot be repatriated into South Africa through crypto either. SARB and National Treasury published a draft Crypto Assets Manual for cross-border activities on 3 August 2026, open for comment until 30 September 2026 — a draft, not law.
No, and we are not allowed to promise one. Section 42(2)(a) of the ECTA excludes financial services from the seven-day cooling-off right in section 44. That is exactly why a firm quote is confirmed in writing before anything moves: once accepted, it binds both sides.
Still not answered.
Ask the desk directly. A dealer will answer a question about process, price or documents without any expectation that you trade afterwards.