How to buy Litecoin in South Africa?

Are you interested in purchasing Litecoin in South Africa?

Litecoin is one of the more common cryptocurrencies, but it can still be somewhat difficult to purchase it with the South African Rand.

This article will cover everything you need to know to purchase Litecoin with the South African Rand. We’ll include the best exchanges, the best wallets, and a few tips to avoid getting scammed while making your purchase.

Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges for Litecoin in South Africa

The problem with purchasing Litecoin in South Africa is that not many exchanges have a South African Rand to Litecoin trading pair (ZAR/LTC). Don’t worry, there is a workaround to this problem.

Simply buy Bitcoin and use the Bitcoin to purchase Litecoin. 

Anyway, here are the best cryptocurrency exchanges for South Africans.

Luno

Luno is a UK based cryptocurrency exchange that has a ZAR/LTC pair, so you can easily purchase Litecoin with Rand deposited by EFT from your South African bank account.

Luno is a popular exchange amongst South Africans due to the ZAR/BTC, ZAR/LTC, ZAR/ETH pairs that they offer and the low fees. In fact, the fees are nominal at only 0.5% on cryptocurrency purchases and 8.50 ZAR on withdrawals. 

We highly recommend South Africans use Luno to purchase Litecoin due to the low fees and the compatibility with the South African Rand. 

ICE3X

ICE3X is a South African cryptocurrency exchange that has a ZAR/LTC trading pair, which is convenient. 

Unfortunately, the fees are slightly higher on ICE3X than Luno. But they are a South African based company, which makes it a little easier if any conflict arises between you and the company. 

In addition to that, ICE3X claims to have a 100% cold storage policy. That policy adds an extra layer of security to any coins you leave on the marketplace. 

However, we still don’t recommend leaving any coins on any cryptocurrency exchange – it’s simply more risky than placing the coins in your own cold storage.

All in all, we recommend ICE3X if you prefer using a South African based cryptocurrency exchange rather than a foreign cryptocurrency exchange. The extra security protocols are also nice.

LocalBitcoins

LocalBitcoins allows you to purchase cryptocurrency using a variety of different methods. The most common way is to simply meet someone, pay them cash, and receive your cryptocurrency.

Litecoin isn’t particularly popular on LocalBitcoins. However, you can easily purchase Bitcoin and use the Bitcoin to purchase Litecoin.

Just use common sense when meeting someone from online to make a purchase, especially in South Africa.

Tax Rules on Cryptocurrency in South Africa

As with most countries, South Africa has a complicated tax code. The tax code is very complicated when it comes to cryptocurrency. 

The South African government doesn’t appear to know whether they classify cryptocurrency profit as income or capital gains income. 

With that in mind, you only have to pay taxes on realized profits, so it’s not a problem until you see your cryptocurrency. 

We recommend hiring a tax professional to help you with any of your realized cryptocurrency earnings.

Best Litecoin Wallet for South Africans

You have a few options when it comes time to choose a Litecoin wallet. Our recommendation is to use either Electrum-LTC (software wallet) or a Ledger Nano S (hardware wallet). 

The hardware wallet is better for more advanced users that plan on using cryptocurrency in their day-to-day life or cryptocurrency traders. It’s also compatible with many different cryptocurrencies.

A software wallet like Electrum-LTC works better for more casual Litecoin users that don’t want to keep any Litecoin on the exchange. 

We don’t have a recommendation for a wallet. Both the options are great, but you do have to know what you want out of a cryptocurrency wallet.

How to Not Get Scammed When Buying Litecoin in South Africa

South Africa does not have any cryptocurrency specific scams. This section will simply detail some common ways that people lose their money while attempting to cryptocurrency.

Don’t Leave Coins On The Exchange

Our first, and most important, tip about staying safe when purchasing Litecoin is to not leave any of it on the exchange. 

Exchanges get hacked on a somewhat regular basis. The employees of the exchange also have access to your cryptocurrency, which greatly decreases the security.

Our recommendation is to immediately transfer all cryptocurrency to your own wallet immediately after purchasing it.

Don’t Lose The Private Keys To Your Wallet

This might actually be the most important tip – don’t lose the private keys to your cryptocurrency wallet. There is no way to recover a lost private key. 

If you lose your private key, then you will never be able to access the cryptocurrency in that wallet. 

We know, this sounds obvious. However, most cryptocurrency isn’t stolen – it’s stuck in wallets that people no longer have the ability to access because they lost their private key.

Double Check You Are Sending Litecoin To The Right Address

Finally, please double check that you are sending your Litecoin to the right address. We recommend double checking the address before clicking send. 

Remember, there is no way to reverse a transaction once it goes through. 

Alternatively, you can simply scan the QR code of your wallet, but it’s still a good idea to double check that the QR code scanned the proper wallet address.

Final Words

Well, that’s it for buying Litecoin in South Africa. It’s really not that difficult of a process as you would probably think. 

You simply signup for an account on Luno, verify your identity, transfer funds, and purchase Litecoin. We do recommend transfering the Litecoin off your Luno account after making the purchase for maximum security, though.

Also, you can purchase Bitcoin with South African Rand on even more exchanges, and you can use that Bitcoin to purchase Litecoin. The process is more convoluted and you will pay some extra fees, but it is an option if you already have an account on an exchange that doesn’t have a ZAR/LTC pair.