VASP Tracker › South Africa
South Africa Crypto Licensing: FAIS CASP Licensing
In force / passed In force / passed: 31 Mar 2026 (regulator notice)
- Regulator
- Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)
- Legal basis
- Crypto assets as financial products · FAIS Act No. 37 of 2002
FSCA · Press release, 15 Apr 2026 - Official register
- FSCA list of licensed CASPs (March 2026) · Format: PDF
What Is Changing
In South Africa crypto assets are financial products, so firms giving advice or intermediary services in crypto assets need a licence under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act. The FSCA has licensed CASPs since 1 June 2023 and also supervises them for AML/CFT under the FIC Act.
At 31 March 2026 the FSCA had approved 310 of 533 applications. The FSCA publishes the list of licensed CASPs as a PDF.
Timeline
- applications open
The FSCA starts licensing crypto asset service providers (CASPs) under the FAIS Act.
Sources: FSCA · Press release, 15 Apr 2026 official
- regulator notice
By the end of its 2025/26 financial year the FSCA had received 533 CASP licence applications: 310 approved, 17 declined, 124 withdrawn. It had opened 81 investigations into suspected unlicensed CASP businesses.
Sources: FSCA · Press release, 15 Apr 2026 official
A company-level tracker for South Africa is in preparation. This page covers the rules and dates only. CSV
Cite This
VASP Tracker, “South Africa crypto licensing: FAIS CASP licensing”, https://vasptracker.com/en/za/ (21 Oct 2026), CC BY 4.0.