Minimum deposit at South African crypto exchanges

The table above gives each platform’s published minimum for a rand deposit, quoted from its own pages with the date we read them. “Not published” means the pages we read print no minimum, and the note names those pages. The table is rebuilt from our verified data at every site build, and a stated minimum turns into “Needs re-check” in your browser once it is due a re-check. The rand deposit routes table at the end of this page adds each route’s own minimum or limit, its fee and the time to credit.

Minimum deposit or route limit?

A platform can set no minimum on its bank transfer and still set one on a faster route. The ordinary EFT into the exchange’s bank account usually has no floor. Card, Apple Pay and pay-by-bank buttons run through a payment partner, and those routes carry their own minimums and maximums. Luno shows the difference most clearly: its fees page prints no minimum for an EFT, but its Apple Pay route takes R50 to R30,000 per deposit.

Your verification level can matter more than any minimum. Luno caps deposits at R15,000 in total at level 1 and R50,000 a month at level 2, with no limits once you are fully verified. AltCoinTrader lets you deposit before you are verified, while VALR and Ovex require full verification before any deposit.

Platform by platform

VALR. The charges page lists a rand EFT deposit as free, with no minimum deposit. VALR’s bank deposit article adds that it sets no limit on EFT deposits, although your bank may. A card deposit has a daily limit that VALR shows only on the deposit screen.

Luno. Luno’s South Africa fees page lists bank transfers as free with no limit, and neither it nor the bank transfer article names a minimum. Capitec and Absa accounts cannot send an EFT to Luno, so customers of those banks use a route with its own limit, as the routes table shows.

AltCoinTrader. Its deposit article says there is no amount limit on deposits, and its account levels list unlimited deposits at levels 1 to 3. No AltCoinTrader page we read names a minimum. Its EFT deposit fee is a percentage with a cap, so a small deposit pays the same share as a larger one until the cap applies.

Ovex. The fees, spreads and limits page gives a R98 deposit minimum for rand, beside a minimum for every other asset, and no deposit fee on any rail. Ovex’s deposit rules ask you to clear the minimum for the asset you send. Rand goes in by ordinary bank transfer with the reference the app gives you.

Binance. Binance’s South Africa page says there are no minimum deposit requirements. Rand can arrive from a linked bank account through Stitch, a bank transfer, Absa Pay, or a card or Apple Pay. Binance does not publish a deposit fee for these routes; the app shows it before you confirm.

Bitget. Bitget’s South Africa rand guide of 16 October 2025 gives a R180 minimum and a R179,000 daily limit for a rand bank deposit, both subject to change. Its Help Center article of 10 February 2025 gives USD 10 to USD 10,000 equivalent per deposit. Neither page states the exchange rate between the two, so check the deposit screen before you pay. The steps are in how to deposit ZAR on Bitget.

Before a small first deposit

Many people send a small amount first to see how a platform works. Four habits keep that test deposit from going astray.

• Pay from an account in your own name. Luno rejects a deposit from someone else’s account and returns it to the depositor, and VALR asks for transfers from an account registered in your name.
• Use your reference every time. A bank transfer needs the deposit reference the platform shows you, or the money cannot be matched to your account. If you left it out, see crypto deposit not showing.
• Avoid two equal amounts within 24 hours. Luno holds the second of two same-amount deposits for a 24-hour cooling period, and VALR’s system flags equal deposits sent within 24 hours for review. VALR suggests changing the amount by as little as one cent.
• Check the way out as well. A withdrawal can have its own minimum: at Ovex it is R100 for rand, a little above the R98 deposit minimum.

Minimum deposit versus minimum trade

The smallest deposit is not the smallest purchase. Luno’s fees page accepts buy and sell orders from R1 on its Portfolio screen, and AltCoinTrader’s BTC/ZAR market shows a R4 minimum order total. A deposit of a few hundred rand can therefore buy crypto on any platform that accepts it, but fees take a larger share of a small amount. The cheapest way to buy bitcoin in South Africa costs a purchase from R500 upwards.

Limitations of this guide

These are the minimums the platforms publish. We have not tested the smallest deposit each one accepts, and we have not opened accounts at these platforms. Your bank can set its own transfer limits and charges. Minimums and limits change, sometimes without notice, so the deposit screen has the final word.

Next steps

To choose between EFT, instant, card and cash routes, see crypto deposit and withdrawal methods in South Africa. The instant EFT guide compares the pay-by-bank routes, and crypto exchange fees in South Africa explained covers what each deposit route costs.