The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has ruled that Bitcoin constitutes both “capital” and “money” under South Africa’s exchange-control framework, in a landmark judgment that could significantly affect how cryptocurrency assets are treated in cross-border transactions, IOL reports.

In a ruling delivered on June 1, Judge Stuart Wilson dismissed an application brought by cryptocurrency trader Square Mangundhla and Fungai Dangaiso seeking to overturn a forfeiture order issued by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).

The case centred on the transfer of approximately 1,680 Bitcoin, valued at about ZAR182mn ($10mn), from South Africa to foreign cryptocurrency exchanges between 2018 and 2020.

According to the judgment, Mangundhla used his own account as well as Dangaiso’s account on Luno to transfer Bitcoin to wallets accessible through offshore crypto exchanges without obtaining National Treasury approval.

The SARB argued that the transactions amounted to the unlawful export of capital under South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations, prompting authorities to seek forfeiture of nearly ZAR6mn ($330,000) in Bitcoin-linked assets and bank funds.

Judge Wilson agreed with the central bank’s interpretation, ruling that cryptocurrency falls within the meaning of both “money” and “capital” under Regulation 10(1)(c) of the Exchange Control Regulations of 1961.

“The central question in this case is whether cryptocurrency (in this instance Bitcoin) constitutes either ‘money’ or ‘capital’ for the purposes of section 10(1)(c) of the Exchange Control Regulations, 1961. I conclude that it is both,” Wilson stated in the judgment, as quoted by IOL.

The court rejected arguments that Bitcoin’s decentralised and digital nature placed it outside the scope of existing exchange-control rules.

Legal analysts said the ruling could strengthen the regulatory authority of South African financial authorities over cryptocurrency transactions involving offshore transfers and may have broader implications for crypto traders and investors moving digital assets abroad.

South Africa has emerged as one of Africa’s largest cryptocurrency markets, with regulators increasingly tightening oversight of digital-asset trading, anti-money-laundering compliance and exchange licensing requirements.

The ruling also underscores growing efforts globally by regulators and central banks to integrate cryptocurrencies into existing financial and capital-control frameworks rather than treating them as entirely separate asset classes.