76 in-depth articles on saving, self-custody, tax, regulation and strategy for South African Bitcoin holders. Written by James Caw.
The cypherpunk introduction to Bitcoin: the problem it was built to solve, where it came from and what it actually is. Written under the We Are All Satoshi banner and used by AltVest at the launch of the raise for Africa Bitcoin Corporation, the first JSE-listed company to hold Bitcoin as a core treasury asset.
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New to Bitcoin? These five, in this order, take you from what it is to your first purchase. Then start saving from R1,000 a month.
Start here · 01Bitcoin is a fixed-supply, decentralised, digital monetary network created in 2008 as a direct response to the failures of the fiat system.
Start here · 02The purchasing power of money held in savings accounts is falling faster than the interest those accounts pay. This is not a temporary condi
Start here · 03Dollar-cost averaging means buying a fixed rand amount of Bitcoin at regular intervals regardless of price. You do not try to time the marke
Start here · 04Bitcoin's annualised volatility is 45 to 60%. That number is accurate. But the conclusion most people draw from it, that Bitcoin is simply a
Start here · 05Most guides to buying Bitcoin tell you to download an app, verify your identity, and press buy. That covers about a fifth of what you actual
StrategyBitcoin is not a hedge against short-term volatility. It is volatile. What it has demonstrated, over multi-year periods, is the ability to p
StrategyBitcoin dollar-cost averaging (DCA) for children is one of the most powerful wealth-building strategies available to South African parents t
StrategyBitcoin has moved from a developer experiment to a trillion-dollar monetary network discussed in boardrooms and studied by governments. The
StrategySimplB focuses exclusively on Bitcoin. This is not an accident or a limitation. For South African investors prioritising regulatory clarity,
StrategyMany investors assume that once a Bitcoin purchase gets large enough, the obvious next step is an OTC desk. It sounds professional, and OTC
StrategyMost risk calculations for Bitcoin start from the wrong baseline. The real question is not whether Bitcoin is risky compared to cash. It is
StrategyBitcoin's annualised volatility sits between 45 and 60 percent, depending on the measurement period. That figure is accurate. But the conclu
StrategyBitcoin's annualised volatility is 45 to 60%. That number is accurate. But the conclusion most people draw from it, that Bitcoin is simply a
StrategyBitcoin has gone through four major boom-bust cycles since 2009. Each produced drawdowns of 78 to 94%. Each also produced a recovery that ex
StrategySouth Africans have always looked for ways to hold wealth outside the rand. The classic routes, offshore equity, dollar cash and foreign pro
StrategyResearch from Fidelity Digital Assets and Grayscale shows that a 1-5% Bitcoin allocation improved the risk-adjusted returns of a traditional
StrategyFOMO is a real psychological force in Bitcoin markets. It is also pointing at something genuinely important underneath the noise. The mistak
StrategyEvery four-year holding period in Bitcoin's history has produced a positive return, including periods that started at cycle peaks. Trying to
StrategyMost guides to buying Bitcoin tell you to download an app, verify your identity, and press buy. That covers about a fifth of what you actual
StrategyBitcoin is not just a new asset class. It is reshaping how portfolios are built. A fixed supply of 21 million coins, 24/7 liquidity and a lo
StrategyDollar-cost averaging means buying a fixed rand amount of Bitcoin at regular intervals regardless of price. You do not try to time the marke
StrategyOnce an investor has decided that Bitcoin belongs in their portfolio, the next question is: how much? It deserves a more useful answer than
WealthBitcoin is relevant to family offices because it addresses a problem the traditional portfolio has not solved: how to hold wealth in somethi
WealthA South African with a R10 million life insurance policy and R5 million in Bitcoin faces a structural estate coordination problem that most
WealthThe common rule of thumb for retail investors is that Bitcoin should constitute 1% to 5% of a diversified portfolio. At family office scale,
WealthWhen South African investors ask whether Bitcoin belongs in a serious portfolio, the most useful answer is not an opinion. It is the data. T
WealthBuying R100,000 in Bitcoin is straightforward. Buying R1 million or more is a fundamentally different process in several dimensions that mos
WealthMost Bitcoin advice is written for investors with a 3 to 5-year time horizon. Family offices and family trusts think in 25 to 50-year horizo
EconomicsSound money is money you can trust to hold its properties over time. Not because of who is managing it, but because of what it is. Bitcoin h
EconomicsBitcoin uses between 100 and 200 terawatt-hours of electricity per year, roughly the same as Poland or the Netherlands. That figure sounds l
EconomicsBitcoin is money. To understand why, it helps to start with what money actually is and how it has changed over thousands of years. The preci
EconomicsThe centralised financial system is described as regulated, safe and trustworthy. The record is different. Currencies have been systematical
EconomicsFiat currencies lose purchasing power over time because governments can create more of them whenever they choose. Bitcoin's supply is capped
EconomicsIn December 1921, Henry Ford proposed a currency backed not by gold but by energy. The idea was dismissed at the time. Over a century later,
EconomicsBitcoin has crashed more than 80% four times in its history. Each time it recovered to new highs. That pattern does not fit how financial bu
EconomicsIn February 2025, South Africa's Finance Minister withdrew the budget speech hours before delivery, a first in the country's democratic hist
EconomicsSeveral governments and US states have explored holding Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. The United States, El Salvador and Bhutan are
EconomicsIn January 2005, one US dollar cost approximately R6.20. Today it costs over R18. That is a decline of roughly 65 to 70% in the rand's purch
EconomicsInternational payments through the traditional banking system remain slower and more expensive than they need to be. A payment to an offshor
EconomicsThe purchasing power of money held in savings accounts is falling faster than the interest those accounts pay. This is not a temporary condi
EconomicsProof of work is the mechanism at the heart of Bitcoin's security model. It is the reason the network has run for more than fifteen years wi
EconomicsFor Christians, money is not a neutral tool. Scripture treats how we handle wealth as a direct reflection of where we place our trust. The m
EconomicsBitcoin is a fixed-supply, decentralised, digital monetary network created in 2008 as a direct response to the failures of the fiat system.
EconomicsGold and commodities built the foundation of wealth management for centuries, then modern finance largely abandoned them. The reasons reveal
InstitutionalAfrica Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), formerly Altvest, is the first listed company on the JSE to hold Bitcoin as a core treasury asset. For Sou
InstitutionalSouth African company directors can hold Bitcoin as a treasury asset with clear accounting and tax frameworks in place. Under IAS 38 the gains
InstitutionalA Bitcoin treasury company is a publicly listed company that holds Bitcoin as its primary balance sheet asset. These companies raise capital
InstitutionalA Bitcoin treasury policy records what a company intends to do with its position. What the company is actually able to do is settled by the c
InstitutionalAn OTC desk lets large buyers and sellers trade Bitcoin directly at a negotiated price, without placing orders through a public exchange. Fo
InstitutionalSouth African family offices are approaching Bitcoin differently from retail investors. The question is not whether to speculate. It is how
InstitutionalInstitutional investors, asset managers, listed companies and sovereign actors are now evaluating Bitcoin as a treasury asset in ways that w
Custody & SecurityBitcoin is a bearer asset: you own it by possessing the private key, not because an institution holds a record of your claim. That single pr
Custody & SecurityBitcoin is a bearer asset. This single fact, more than any other property of Bitcoin, shapes how it should be held, managed and planned for
Custody & SecurityBitcoin stolen from a phone is gone. That is the core lesson from a pattern of thefts circulating in Cape Town WhatsApp communities. When sy
Custody & SecurityWhen Mt. Gox collapsed in 2014 and roughly 850,000 Bitcoin disappeared, headlines said "Bitcoin hacked." That framing was wrong in a specifi
Custody & SecurityExchange custody means your Bitcoin is someone else's liability. Self-custody means you hold the keys, and no third party can freeze, restri
Custody & SecuritySimplB handles the buy and moves your Bitcoin into self-custody from day one. The process is FSCA-aligned, FICA-compliant and exchange-contr
Custody & SecurityMulti-signature (multisig) Bitcoin custody requires more than one private key to authorise any transaction. A standard 2-of-3 setup means tw
Custody & SecurityWhen you buy Bitcoin on an exchange and leave it there, you do not hold Bitcoin. You hold a claim against the exchange. The exchange holds t
Custody & SecuritySimplB is a Bitcoin-only brokerage operating as a Juristic Representative of CAEP Asset Managers (FSP 33933). It provides regulated, FICA-co
Custody & SecuritySimplB Vault is a multi-signature custody product designed for investors holding R500,000 or more in Bitcoin. It addresses a specific proble
Custody & SecurityTrust in a Bitcoin custody service is not about branding. It is about structure. Can the service move your Bitcoin without you? What happens
Regulation & TaxMost South Africans buy their first Bitcoin in their personal name because that is the easiest place to start. It becomes a problem when the
Regulation & TaxWhat happens to Bitcoin in a South African divorce has almost no quality public information, despite being one of the most-searched Bitcoin
Regulation & TaxThe 2026 National Budget, delivered on 25 February 2026, included a single sentence that fundamentally changes the regulatory framework for
Regulation & TaxFICA, the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, requires South African financial institutions to verify who their clients are, understand where
Regulation & TaxMost South African Bitcoin investors do not get into trouble with SARS because they are trying to hide something. They get into trouble beca
Regulation & TaxCARF went live in South Africa on 1 March 2026. As of that date, every FSCA-licensed Bitcoin exchange must report every client's transaction
Regulation & TaxOn 4 September 2025, the JSE published proposed amendments to its Debt and Specialist Securities Listings Requirements covering crypto asset
Regulation & TaxThe 2026 National Budget doubled South Africa's Single Discretionary Allowance from R1 million to R2 million, effective immediately. It is t
Regulation & TaxBitcoin is fully lawful in South Africa. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) now licenses Crypto Asset Service Providers, which me
Regulation & TaxCARF does not just send transaction data to SARS. It sends machine-readable, structured data that SARS's systems can reconcile directly agai
Regulation & TaxSouth Africa's approach to Bitcoin regulation has been one of gradual but meaningful progress. In 2026, the picture is clearer than it has e
Regulation & TaxIn 2024, Standard Bank refused to let its retail customers trade Bitcoin, citing legal uncertainty about whether Bitcoin constitutes "capita
Regulation & TaxThere is a widely held belief among South African crypto investors that tax only applies when you convert back into rand. As long as you sta
Regulation & TaxThe two-pot retirement system lets South African fund members withdraw one amount per year from their savings pot without a surrender charge
Regulation & TaxMost Bitcoin investors spend significant time thinking about how to acquire and hold Bitcoin. Very few think carefully about what happens to
Regulation & TaxSARS does not see your Bitcoin holding in real time. What it sees is a structured annual report of your transaction history on licensed exch
Regulation & TaxRegulatory risk is real for Bitcoin investors. It is not zero. But the actual direction of global regulation over the past five years is tow
Regulation & TaxIn 2026, whether a South African Bitcoin provider is FSCA-licensed is not a technicality. It is the single most consequential check you can
Regulation & TaxThe Trust Property Control Act places personal liability on trustees for the prudent management and safekeeping of all trust assets. If a tr