The case has been before the courts for several years, with investors unable to recover their funds, bank accounts frozen and a regulatory investigation that continues to have serious consequences.
Crypto in Africa: NTC loses its appeal
The decision comes as South Africa gradually tightens its regulatory framework for the crypto sector. NTC and its sole director, Edwin Thabo Letopa, had asked the Pretoria High Court to overturn or review the provisional liquidation order issued on September 10, 2025.
Their argument was that NTC had already challenged the proceedings without being properly informed of the hearing that led to the order.
Judge Anthony Millar did not accept that interpretation. The application was dismissed with costs, according to Moneyweb.
The difficulties had begun much earlier. In 2023, 21 investors sought NTC’s liquidation after encountering withdrawal problems. They cited alleged fraud, insolvency and the risk that funds could be dissipated—allegations the company disputed.
484 million rands under scrutiny
NTC said it raised money through interest-bearing securities, mainly to fund crypto arbitrage: buying digital assets in a market where they were cheaper and then reselling them elsewhere.
However, a PwC analysis of cash flows found little evidence that the approximately 484 million rands collected had been used as announced. According to information reported by Moneyweb, substantial amounts were instead transferred to related parties and other accounts.
The analysis also suggests that capital from new investors may have been used, at least in part, to pay earlier investors.
This point closely resembles the pattern examined in many crypto scam and fake investment cases. In NTC’s case, however, precision is essential: the National Director of Public Prosecutions had alleged a Ponzi-type operation, but an earlier asset-preservation proceeding was dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence to establish that allegation at that stage.
NTC continues to maintain that it has sufficient assets and that its payment difficulties are primarily the result of certain accounts being frozen.
The FSCA had already issued a warning
However, the South African regulator had already sounded the alarm in May 2024. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority urged the public to exercise caution regarding NTC, Arbitrawallet, Edwin Letopa and several associated individuals. According to the FSCA, the parties concerned were suspected of providing financial services without the required authorisations.
FNB and the South African Reserve Bank had also frozen 57.5 million rands in NTC’s main business account. Another account containing 58 million rands had not been blocked.
The case then took a much darker turn. Bouwer van Niekerk, a lawyer for the practitioner overseeing NTC’s rescue proceedings, was shot dead at his office in Johannesburg on September 5, 2025. A suspect has since been arrested and charged. This fact must nevertheless be distinguished from the financial proceedings: the evidence currently available does not allow his killing to be judicially attributed to NTC.
For the South African market, the case comes at an unfortunate time. The country is trying to establish a structured sector in which authorities are stepping up oversight of cross-border crypto flows.
NTC marketed crypto arbitrage as a return-generating engine. Two years later, the question is no longer how much that strategy could have earned, but how much money investors will actually be able to recover.
