VALR CEO: R2.2 Billion in SA Crypto Investment on Hold Over Exchange Controls

What to know

• VALR CEO Farzam Ehsani says at least R2.2 billion in foreign investment into South African crypto businesses is on hold pending clarity on proposed exchange control rules.
• The figure covers three named deals: a R1.6 billion investment from an international private equity firm, and two others worth R250 million and R350 million.
• The draft rules would stop South African businesses from using crypto or stablecoins for legitimate cross-border payments, pushing them back onto slower, costlier traditional channels.
• The CATASTROPHE coalition opposing the rules has grown to 193 organisations and more than 5,300 individuals since launching on September 9.
• Ehsani says VALR will comply with whatever is finalised, but the industry may pursue a legal challenge if regulators ignore its objections.

The Number, and Where It Came From

Speaking on the Moneyweb Crypto Pod with host Ciaran Ryan, Ehsani put a figure on the fear that South Africa’s crypto industry has shared since the draft rules came out. According to VALR CEO Farzam Ehsani, the concern that the draft exchange control rules will cost the industry investment is not “theoretical.”

In the conversation, he highlighted three specific transactions: a proposed R1.6 billion investment from an international private equity firm, plus two smaller deals worth R250 million and R350 million, all of which have been “put on hold” while investors wait for clarity.

These figures, he says, are “100% evidence,” and not just figures he heard in the “marketplace.” He says these numbers come from “founders themselves who are in direct conversation with those investors.” 

Ehsani added, “My emails and WhatsApp are full of messages saying if this goes through, we will need to shut down or take our company offshore.”

What the Draft Rules Would Actually Restrict

The rules that have stirred up so much controversy are the National Treasury’s draft Capital Flow Management Regulations and the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) accompanying Crypto Asset Manual for Cross-Border Activities.

As previously reported, the industry’s main objection is that the draft would prevent South African businesses from using blockchain-based payments, including stablecoins, for legitimate cross-border transactions. This would force businesses back to slower and more expensive traditional fiat rails.

The rules also allow individuals to move their crypto assets from regulated firms like VALR to a self-custodial wallet but not the other way around, a provision critics have termed a “one-way door.”

These provisions, the industry says, are not technology neutral. Equivalent bank transfer and an equivalent stablecoin transfer, they argue, should face the same rules, not different ones.

A Coalition That’s Still Growing — and Reframing Itself

The industry united against these rules via a coalition called CATASTROPHE. CATASTROPHE launched on September 9 with backing from VALR, Luno, AltCoinTrader, EasyEquities and others. It has since garnered support from 200 organisations and more than 5,500 individuals.

Notably, Ehsani pushed back on the media framing of the campaign as a fight against regulators. “Either we’re all going to win, or we’re all going to lose. We’re in this together — the regulators, the crypto asset industry and beyond,” he said to MoneyWeb.

He added that the draft is a lengthy comment and highlighted that the campaign was more “educative” than “combative.” He characterised CATASTROPHE as an attempt to help both sides understand what the proposed rules actually mean in practice.

He also said regulators were fully informed of the campaign and the intentions behind it before it launched. At the same time, he claimed some supporters have told him privately that they back the campaign but are reluctant to attach their names to it publicly.” “What that means,” Ehsani said, “one can interpret.”

Why a Legal Challenge Is on the Table

Ehsani said, in the eventuality that the rules go through as they are, VALR and the big industry names would comply, but that the industry may challenge them in court, an option he would rather avoid. “Hopefully we don’t need to get there.”

Part of what makes a court fight plausible is that South Africa’s courts don’t currently agree on whether crypto is even subject to exchange controls in the first place.

A 2025 Pretoria High Court ruling found it wasn’t; a June 2026 Johannesburg High Court judgement found the opposite, ruling that Bitcoin constitutes capital under existing exchange control law. That conflict is expected to reach the Supreme Court of Appeal eventually. 

Why This Matters

SARB has responded to the coalition. Public comments on the draft Crypto Asset Manual close on September 30, giving both sides a narrowing window to shape the final rules. For South African crypto businesses and their investors, the practical stakes are too important to ignore. 

The message from Ehsani and the CATASTROPHE coalition is clear: if the fairer. Technology-neutral, activity-based regulations aren’t implemented, then the 2 billion rand investment sitting in limbo may be the first casualty in a bigger hit to South Africa’s crypto industry.