Johannesburg – Luno, a South African-founded digital asset platform, has called for updated, clear, and pragmatic regulations for digital assets such as Bitcoin to help drive investment and economic growth.
The call by one of the world’s oldest crypto wallets comes as the popularity of digital assets continues to grow globally.
Last week, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of more than R2 million.
Buoyed by the recent ruling in the high court stating that South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations, introduced in 1961, cannot be applied to cryptocurrencies, Luno on Monday, 26 May 2025, called for urgent moves to enact “pragmatic regulations for digital assets”.
On 15 May 2025, the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria, ruled in Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd v South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and others that Bitcoin and other crypto‑assets were neither “currency” nor “capital” for purposes of Exchange Control Regulations.
The court found that Bitcoin and other crypto‑assets fall outside the present exchange‑control net.
In a statement made available to The Bulrushes, Luno noted that increasingly, institutional investors around the world were incorporating digital assets into investments.
“Last year, the first pension fund in the UK allocated 3% of its funds to high-returning cryptocurrencies,” Luno said.
In the statement issued by Marius Reitz, Luno General Manager for Africa & Europe, the company noted that the court found that the existing regulations do not permit “an unnatural and fictitious reading” to include cryptocurrencies.
The court ruled that, in the same manner intellectual property rights were incorporated into an outdated exchange control framework, cryptocurrencies now require “legislative attention.”
“Exchange Control Regulations are rules governed by the country’s central bank, the SARB, to regulate the flow of money into and out of the country,” Luno said in the statement.
“The SARB may now be required to update these decades-old regulations to apply specifically to digital assets.
“One major regulatory gap is that digital currencies in South Africa are currently not designated as either offshore or onshore assets.
“This ambiguity discourages investment by collective investment schemes and pension funds, as offshore assets are subject to stricter exchange control rules, forcing lower levels of investment.”
Additionally, clearer regulations will assist in reporting and addressing illicit financial flows.
Luno said it strongly believes that updated legislation, specifically, the technically correct designation of digital assets as onshore – will allow the digital asset industry to contribute more significantly to economic growth in South Africa.
The statement added: “Improved regulation will not only promote investment but also enhance tax collection and enable crypto-asset service providers to better fulfil their obligations in identifying suspicious financial activity”.
Luno said it looks forward to a collaborative process between the government and the digital asset industry to formulate regulations that ensure the massive benefits of cryptocurrencies are unlocked for the wider economy.
