Onboarding and FICA
The document checklist, why each item is required, and what enhanced due diligence involves.
The trade lifecycle
How a trade runs,
How a trade runs,
end to end.
This page follows one trade from the first message to the written confirmation: who is holding what at every point, how long each stage takes, and what the desk does when something goes wrong. USDT is used throughout because it is the instrument most tickets are denominated in. The sequence is the same for every asset the desk quotes.
Conexus
Indicative USDT rate
—
USDT / ZAR
Quoted by a dealer
The whole thing in one paragraph.
If you want to see how an over-the-counter desk works rather than a retail app, the sequence is short. You tell a dealer the asset, the direction and the size. You are onboarded once. You ask for a quote and receive a firm rate in writing, held for an agreed window. If you accept inside that window, you send the crypto leg to an address the desk confirms to you in writing, and the desk pays the currency you settle in into a bank account in your own name — the same business day where the rail and the cut-off allow it. You then receive a written confirmation with the reference, the rate, the on-chain transaction hash and the net amount.
Buying works the same way in reverse: the fiat leg leaves your bank account first, and the crypto asset is delivered to a wallet address you have confirmed. Everything below applies to both directions unless it says otherwise.
Which currency and which rail apply to you is confirmed before a quote is given, never assumed. In South Africa — the market this desk has an office in — settlement is in rand by EFT, RTC or PayShap, and the mechanics are set out on the settlement page.
What this page is not: it is not a rate offer, and nothing here is financial or tax advice. Indicative pricing lives on the live rates page and the commercial terms are on fees and limits.
Six stages
Six steps. Nothing moves until you accept a number.
The sequence is identical for a small ticket and for an eight-figure one. Only the amount of compliance work in step two changes.
Conexus
Indicative USDT rate
—
USDT / ZAR
Quoted by a dealer
01
Enquiry
You contact the desk on WhatsApp, Telegram, phone, email or in the Cape Town office and state the asset, the direction, the approximate size, the network you intend to use and the currency you want to settle in. A dealer replies by name. Nothing is committed and no documents are needed yet.
Typical: Minutes, during dealing hours
02
Onboarding
Identity, proof of address, source of funds and confirmation of a bank account in your own name. Customer due diligence is a legal duty wherever this desk operates — in South Africa it is section 21 of the FIC Act — and it happens once. On later trades the desk only refreshes what has changed.
Typical: Usually under an hour once documents are to hand
03
Request for quote
You confirm the exact amount, the exact network and the settlement currency. The dealer prices the whole ticket against live order books rather than a global average, because a large order worked on a thin book fills worse than the screen price suggests. On rand corridors that means the South African books.
Typical: Minutes
04
Firm quote and the hold window
You receive a written quote: one rate for the entire amount, the gross and net figures in the settlement currency, the settlement rail, and the period for which the rate is held. It is an offer you may accept or decline. If the window lapses you are re-quoted at the market as it then stands — you are never held to a stale rate, and you are never charged for letting a quote expire.
Typical: The window stated on the quote
05
Settlement
You send the crypto leg to the address confirmed in writing. The desk waits for the agreed number of network confirmations, then releases the settlement currency on the rail confirmed for your corridor, to the account already verified in your name. In South Africa that rail is EFT, RTC or PayShap. On a buy, the fiat leg clears first and the crypto asset follows.
Typical: Same business day, subject to bank cut-offs
06
Confirmation and records
A written confirmation is issued with the trade reference, date and time in South African Standard Time, asset, network, on-chain transaction hash, amount received, agreed rate, gross and net settlement amounts, the receiving account in masked form and the dealer’s name. Keep it: it is the document that explains the credit to your bank, your accountant and your revenue authority.
Typical: Same day as settlement
Custody
Where your money is at every step.
This is the question that matters most and the one most desks answer vaguely. Conexus does not operate custodial accounts or wallets on behalf of clients. There is no balance to top up and nothing to withdraw. Assets are in your control until the moment of exchange, and the desk holds value only for the minutes between the two legs.
| Stage | Your crypto asset | Your funds | Can it be undone? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiry | In your own wallet or exchange account | In your own bank account | Nothing has moved |
| Onboarding | In your own wallet or exchange account | In your own bank account | Nothing has moved |
| Request for quote | In your own wallet or exchange account | In your own bank account | Nothing has moved |
| Firm quote issued, window running | In your own wallet or exchange account | In your own bank account | You may simply decline |
| You accept and send the crypto leg | In transit on the network, then at the desk address quoted to you | Still in your bank account | No. An on-chain transfer is final and cannot be recalled by anyone |
| Desk releases the settlement currency | Held by the desk between arrival and payment | Leaving our bank account, crediting yours | A bank payment can be traced but not unilaterally reversed |
| Confirmation | Sold | In your account | The trade is complete and documented |
The one irreversible step
The one thing that is genuinely irreversible is the on-chain leg. That is why the desk confirms the receiving address and the network in writing, in the same channel as the quote, and why you should verify the channel itself on the verify our channels page before a first transfer. Send a small test amount if you want to. Most large clients do, and no dealer here will discourage it.
Worked example
A trade with the numbers filled in.
Every figure below is illustrative and exists to show how the arithmetic works. It is not a quote, not an offer, and not a representation of the rate available to you today. The example runs USDT into rand because it is the desk’s most common corridor; in another settlement currency only the symbol changes.
| Line | Illustrative figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Asset and direction | Sell 100,000 USDT for ZAR | The network — TRC-20 in this example — is fixed in writing before anything is sent |
| Indicative mid when you ask | R18.55 per USDT | Screen reference derived from the VALR and Luno order books. Indicative only |
| Firm rate quoted and accepted | R18.42 per USDT | One rate for the whole ticket. The gap to mid is the desk’s margin at that size |
| Hold window | The period stated on the quote | If it lapses you are re-quoted at the market as it then stands |
| Amount actually received on chain | 100,000.00 USDT | The rate is applied to what arrives, not to what was intended to arrive |
| Gross settlement amount | R1,842,000.00 | 100,000 × 18.42 |
| Separate desk fee | None in this example | The supply of a crypto asset is a deemed financial service and is exempt from VAT under s2(1) of the VAT Act. A separately charged service fee may attract VAT |
| Network fee | Paid by you, from your own wallet | Not deducted by the desk |
| Bank charges | Your bank may levy an inbound credit fee | Not deducted by the desk |
| Net credited to your bank account | R1,842,000.00 | To an account in your own name, by EFT, RTC or PayShap |
What if a different amount arrives?
It happens constantly, usually because the sending exchange deducted its withdrawal fee from the amount rather than adding it. Suppose 99,980.00 USDT lands instead of 100,000.00. The desk does not re-price and does not treat it as a failed trade. The same accepted rate of R18.42 is applied to the amount that actually arrived: 99,980 × 18.42 = R1,841,631.60. The confirmation records both the intended and the received amount so the difference is explained on paper.
The reverse also holds. If more arrives than was quoted, the excess is either priced at the same rate with your written agreement or returned to the sending address, at your choice. Nothing is absorbed quietly.
How the buy side differs
On a purchase the fiat leg moves first, because the desk cannot deliver a crypto asset against a payment that has not cleared. You pay from an account in your own name, using the reference on the quote. Once the funds reflect, the asset is sent to the wallet address you confirmed and the transaction hash goes onto your confirmation. If your bank holds the payment for review, the hold window is treated as suspended and you are re-quoted when the money lands — this is stated on the quote itself, not invented afterwards.
Timing
How long each stage actually takes.
The honest version, including the things that make it slower. Dealing hours are the Cape Town office hours published on the contact page; the crypto networks do not keep office hours, but the banks do.
| Stage | Typical | What extends it |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry to a dealer’s reply | Minutes in dealing hours | Messages sent overnight are answered the next business morning |
| Onboarding, first trade | Under an hour once documents are to hand | A proof of address older than three months, a company structure with layered ownership, an enhanced due diligence review, or a name that matches a screening list and has to be cleared |
| Onboarding, later trades | None — you are already on file | A change of bank account, a change of address, or a materially larger ticket than your profile supports |
| Request for quote to firm quote | Minutes | Size beyond what the book absorbs at that moment, or a thinly traded asset |
| Hold window | The period on the quote | Nothing extends it. It expires and you are re-quoted |
| Crypto leg confirming on chain | Roughly a minute on TRON or Solana, about half an hour on Bitcoin | An underpriced network fee, network congestion, or a transfer sent on a network the quote did not name |
| Fiat settlement | Same business day when the crypto leg lands before the day’s cut-off | Bank cut-off times, per-transaction ceilings on instant rails, or your bank reviewing a large inbound credit |
| Written confirmation | Same day as settlement | Nothing |
A firm quote is an offer you can decline.
If a desk will not let you decline one calmly, that is the information you needed. There are no countdown timers on this site, an expired quote costs nothing, and no obligation attaches to a quote you did not accept.
When it does not go smoothly
Five things that go wrong, and what the desk does.
None of these are hypothetical. They are the five situations that actually come up, and it is worth knowing the answer before you are in one.
The bank delays the payment
Banks run their own transaction monitoring everywhere this desk settles. In South Africa they are accountable institutions under the same FIC Act that governs this desk. A large inbound credit into a personal account can be held for review, and the bank may telephone you before releasing it. There is no way for the desk to override that, and any desk claiming it can is telling you something untrue. What the desk does is send the confirmation immediately so you have documentary support, provide the proof of payment on request, and stay reachable while your bank asks its questions. What you can do is tell your banker in advance that a credit of a stated size is coming and what it relates to. It converts a two-day hold into a five-minute call. There is more on this on the settlement page.
You send on the wrong network
This is the most expensive mistake in the whole process and the reason the network is written into the quote in capital letters. USDT on TRC-20, ERC-20, BEP-20 and Solana are four different assets from a settlement point of view, even though the ticker is identical. If you send to an address the desk controls but on a network the desk supports, recovery is usually possible and the desk will do it, but it takes time and it may carry a recovery cost. If you send to an address on a network nobody controls — the classic case is a transfer to a contract address, or to an exchange deposit address that only accepts one chain — the value is generally not recoverable by anyone. Confirm the network in the same message thread as the quote. Send a test transfer first if the amount is meaningful to you.
The amount does not match the quote
Handled as in the worked example above: the accepted rate is applied to the amount that actually arrived, and both figures appear on the confirmation. The desk does not re-price to your disadvantage because a withdrawal fee was deducted at source, and it does not quietly keep a surplus.
The market moves while you are being onboarded
It will, and this is exactly why a firm quote is issued after onboarding rather than before. Prices quoted during an enquiry are indicative. If the market moves ten percent while a compliance query is being resolved, you are quoted at the market that exists when you are ready to trade — better or worse. The desk does not hold an artificial rate open to keep you in the process, and it will not pressure you to accept a quote inside a window that is running down. There are no countdown timers on this site for that reason.
A compliance query comes up mid-trade
If something needs clarifying — an unexpected counterparty, a source of funds that does not match the profile on file, a wallet with exposure the desk’s screening flags — the trade pauses and a dealer tells you plainly what is being asked and why. If a query can be answered, it usually is, within the same day. If the desk cannot get comfortable, it will decline the trade and return any crypto asset already received to the address it came from, less the network fee. It will not simply hold your assets while it decides. What the desk cannot do is tell you whether a report has been filed with the Financial Intelligence Centre — section 29 of the FIC Act prohibits that disclosure, and any desk that offers to tip you off is committing an offence.
After the trade.
Three things survive the trade, and all three matter later.
The confirmation. Keep it with the bank statement line it explains. If a revenue authority, your bank or an auditor asks where a credit came from, that single document answers it.
The record the desk keeps. Under sections 22 and 23 of the FIC Act, the desk retains your identification and transaction records for five years from the end of the business relationship or the date of the transaction. That is a statutory obligation, not a preference, and it is described in the privacy policy and the AML and KYC policy.
Your tax position. Tax follows you, not the desk. In South Africa, SARS treats crypto assets as assets of an intangible nature, taxed on revenue or capital account under ordinary principles, and South Africa adopted the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework from 1 March 2026 with the first return due to SARS by 31 May 2027. The desk does not give tax advice and will not help anyone treat a disposal as invisible. The crypto tax guide sets out what to keep; a registered tax practitioner tells you what to do with it.
Questions about the process
You can get an indicative price immediately — the rates page carries one and a dealer will give you a level in conversation. A firm rate is only issued once onboarding is complete, because customer due diligence has to be done before a business relationship starts or a single transaction concludes. In South Africa that duty is section 21 of the FIC Act. Quoting firm before that would be committing to a trade the desk is not yet permitted to conclude.
Nothing. The quote lapses, you owe nothing, and you can ask for a new one. There is no fee for an expired quote and no obligation attaches to a quote you did not accept.
On a sale of crypto assets, you send the crypto leg after accepting the firm quote, and the fiat follows the same business day. On a purchase, the fiat leg clears first and the asset follows. The order is fixed by which side settles irreversibly and which side can be recalled — it is not negotiable, and it is stated on every quote so there is no argument later.
The corridor is confirmed before a quote is given, because the answer depends on the amount, the rail and the compliance outcome. Rand settlement runs on the South African rails described on the settlement page. What the desk can settle in for you, on the day, is a question for a dealer rather than for a marketing page.
Yes. Large tickets are welcome to settle in the Cape Town dealing room at 37 Buitenkant Street, District Six, where you can watch the transfer and the payment instruction happen. Johannesburg meetings are by appointment. Settlement is still by bank transfer — the desk does not handle cash.
No, and this is not flexible. Funds settle only into an account in the name of the verified client. Third-party settlement defeats the entire purpose of customer due diligence and is one of the clearest indicators of a mule account. The reasoning is set out on the onboarding page.
No. Everything on this site is indicative and excludes network fees, banking charges and the outcome of compliance checks. A firm rate exists only once a dealer has confirmed it to you in writing and it is held only for the window stated in that message.
No. The South African Reserve Bank’s Financial Surveillance Department does not approve cross-border transfers for the purpose of purchasing crypto assets, and buying crypto assets in South Africa in order to externalise capital contravenes the Exchange Control Regulations and is a criminal offence. Value also cannot be repatriated into South Africa through crypto assets under the allowances. A South African client settles domestically, in rand, into a South African bank account, and the desk will say so as often as it is asked.
Start with the size and the network.
Tell a dealer the asset, the direction, the amount, the network and the currency you want to settle in. You will get a firm rate in writing and a plain description of what settlement will look like.
Investing in crypto assets may result in the loss of capital, as the value is variable and can go up as well as down. A crypto asset is not legal tender and is not a regulated deposit. Conexus Crypto provides an exchange service only and does not provide financial, investment or tax advice.