Can Cryptocurrency Be Traced During an Asset Investigation?
“It’s all in Bitcoin now. You’ll never find it.”
It’s the kind of thing a debtor says to a creditor, a business partner says on the way out the door, or a spouse says in the middle of a bitter divorce. It sounds final. In most cases, it isn’t.
Cryptocurrency has a reputation as the perfect hiding place for money. The reality in South Africa in 2026 is very different. Crypto is not anonymous. It’s pseudonymous, which means every transaction is recorded forever, just without a name attached. And the moment someone turns rands into crypto, or crypto back into rands, they almost always have to pass through a door that asks for their ID.
At PI INVESTIGATOR, we approach crypto the way we approach any hidden wealth: follow the money in, follow the money out, and find the doors it had to pass through. This article explains how that works, where it hits limits, and what it means for your case.
The Short Answer: Yes, More Often Than People Expect
Every major cryptocurrency runs on a blockchain, a public ledger that anyone can read. Each wallet has an address, a long string of letters and numbers, and every payment between addresses is visible permanently. What the ledger doesn’t show is who owns each address. This all looks like gibberish, until you understand what you are looking at.
That gap is what investigators close. Once a wallet can be linked to a person, through an exchange account, a bank transfer, a device or even a careless social media post, the rest of the trail often opens up.
The scale of global tracing work shows how real that trail is. Chainalysis’s 2026 Crypto Crime Report estimates that illicit crypto addresses received at least R2.53 trillion in 2025, with stablecoins making up 84% of that volume. You can only measure criminal money that precisely if you can follow it.
How Common Is Crypto in South Africa?
Common enough that it now belongs in any serious asset trace. Survey data from TripleA estimates that around 9.4% of South Africans own cryptocurrency. More than 79% of owners hold Bitcoin, and over 46% hold more than R10,000 in crypto.
Just as important is where they buy it. In October 2022, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority declared crypto assets to be financial products, which means any business trading or holding crypto for clients must be licensed. By 31 March 2026, the FSCA had approved 310 licences from 533 applications. It has also opened 81 investigations into unlicensed operators.
In plain terms: most South Africans who own crypto bought it through a regulated local platform that knows exactly who they are.
Three Rule Changes That Made Hiding Crypto Harder
1. Identity checks at the door.
Licensed crypto platforms must verify their clients under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, just like banks. That means ID documents, proof of address and a record of every rand deposited and withdrawn
2. The "travel rule".
Since 30 April 2025, FIC Directive 9 has required crypto platforms to collect and share sender and recipient details when crypto moves between providers. According to Youverify’s analysis, the threshold is zero rand, so every transfer counts.
3. Automatic reporting to SARS.
On 1 March 2026, the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) took effect. Crypto platforms must now report purchases, sales, swaps and wallet transfers to SARS. The first return is due by 31 May 2027, with information shared with other countries from September 2027.
Automatic reporting to SARS.
One point needs to be clear. These records are confidential. A private investigator can’t simply phone an exchange and ask for someone’s account history. That information is reached through your attorney, using a subpoena or court order. Our job is to work out which platform, which wallet and which period to target, so that court process lands on the right door the first time.
Where Investigators Actually Find Hidden Crypto
Crypto tracing is rarely a single breakthrough. It’s a set of small, lawful findings that add up.
The rand trail
Crypto almost always starts as rands. Transfers to exchanges often appear in records a client already has lawful access to joint account statements in a divorce, company ledgers in a fraud matter, or financial disclosures in litigation. A recurring payment to an exchange is often the first thread we pull.
The lifestyle gap
When someone claims to be broke but drives a new SUV and travels often, the money is coming from somewhere. Lifestyle profiling, supported where needed by discreet surveillance, helps show that undeclared wealth exists, even before we know its form.
Open-source intelligence
People are surprisingly open about crypto online. Posts about trading wins, membership of investment groups, published wallet addresses and links to mining or trading businesses all leave clues. Each one is lawfully collected and documented so it stands up in court.
Business and company records
Crypto is often held through a company or trust. Our fraud investigations team regularly finds company funds routed to exchanges, or crypto bought with money taken out of a business.
Following the blockchain
Once a wallet address is known, its full history can be analysed. Funds can often be followed to the deposit address of a known exchange. That is exactly the evidence an attorney needs to approach that exchange through court. Where devices, hacking or online scams are involved, our cyber crime investigators work alongside the asset trace.
A South African Lesson: Mirror Trading International
The collapse of Mirror Trading International (MTI) shows both the power and the limits of crypto tracing. According to court papers reported by BizNews, MTI’s accounts should have held more than 22,000 bitcoin when it imploded. Liquidators later issued summons against 18 people for around R4.67 billion.
Their biggest recovery came from a regulated intermediary. News24 reported that 1,281 bitcoin frozen by an offshore broker were recovered and sold for just over R1 billion. Thousands more bitcoin that moved into private wallets proved far harder to reach.
The lesson for creditors is simple. Crypto sitting with a known platform can be frozen and recovered. Crypto that has moved into private storage is harder, but it still leaves a trail of who moved it and when.
Where Crypto Tracing Hits a Wall
A trustworthy investigator will tell you where the limits are. Tracing becomes much harder when someone:
- stores crypto in a hardware wallet and never moves it
- uses “mixing” services or privacy coins designed to break the trail
- trades through unregulated offshore platforms
- buys crypto person-to-person for cash
Even then, the case isn’t necessarily lost. Courts can order a party to disclose their holdings under oath. In divorce matters, section 7 of the Matrimonial Property Act allows for disclosure of a spouse’s assets. Where someone clearly hides wealth, courts may draw adverse inferences and assume the undisclosed assets exist. Evidence that crypto was bought, even if it can’t yet be seized, can shift the outcome of a case.
When a Crypto Asset Trace Makes Sense
We most often add crypto to an investigation in these situations:
- Divorce: a spouse’s declared assets don’t match their lifestyle or past income.
- Debt and judgment recovery: a debtor claims to have nothing but keeps spending.
- Business fraud: a partner, employee or director has moved company money out.
- Deceased estates: heirs suspect crypto exists but can’t find access details.
- Investment scams: victims want to know where their funds went and who received them.
We assist clients with asset tracing in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and all over South Africa.
As a PSIRA-registered agency, we work strictly within the Protection of Personal Information Act. We never hack accounts, access devices without authority or buy leaked data. Evidence gathered that way breaks the law and can destroy your case.
Practical Tips If You Suspect Hidden Crypto
- Keep quiet. Crypto can move in minutes. Don’t warn the other party.
- Preserve what you have. Save statements, screenshots and messages that mention crypto or exchanges.
- Never guess passwords or open their devices. That can be a crime and can make evidence inadmissible.
- Name crypto in disclosure requests. Ask your attorney to refer to digital assets specifically.
- Act early. The sooner a platform is identified, the sooner a freezing order can be sought.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Bitcoin be traced?
Yes. Every Bitcoin transaction is permanently recorded on a public blockchain. The challenge is linking a wallet to a person, which is where investigation comes in.
Can cryptocurrency be seized in South Africa?
Yes, through a court order. Crypto held on a South African platform can be frozen. Crypto in private wallets is harder, but courts can order disclosure.
Does SARS know about my crypto?
Increasingly, yes. Since 1 March 2026, licensed crypto platforms must report client transactions to SARS under CARF.
Is crypto included in a divorce settlement?
Yes. Crypto is an asset like any other and must be disclosed. Hiding it can lead to adverse findings against the spouse concerned.
Can a private investigator get someone's exchange records?
No. Exchange records are confidential and must be obtained by your attorney through a subpoena or court order. We identify where to look.
Can I recover crypto lost to a scam?
Sometimes. Recovery is most likely when funds reached a regulated exchange quickly. Be wary of “recovery agents” demanding upfront fees, as many are scams themselves.
How long does a crypto asset trace take?
A focused trace can take one to two weeks. Complex matters involving companies, several wallets or offshore platforms can take longer.
Crypto Isn't a Cloak
Cryptocurrency was built on a ledger that never forgets. Combine that with licensing, the travel rule and automatic reporting to SARS, and “it’s all in Bitcoin” is starting to sound less like a defence and more like a lead.