The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has banned the activities of the CEO of Africa Bitcoin Corporation, a company listed on the JSE and previously known as Altvest Capital, and has also led to his resignation from the board of directors.
Among the three individuals mentioned in the FSCA's decisions, which were communicated to the board of directors on August 30, is Warren Wheatley, the company's founder, who oversaw its transition into what the company calls Africa's first Bitcoin custodian listed company. The other two individuals are Chief Investment Officer Akshay Karan and Tatum Wheatley, who is responsible for the company's media and investor relations.
According to an investor statement published after market close on Tuesday, these decisions include prohibition orders preventing these three individuals from providing financial products or services, acting as key persons in financial institutions, or rendering services to financial institutions.
The regulator did not disclose these decisions, nor did the company reveal the specific conduct that led to these measures. The investor statement was posted via the JSE and indicated that the decisions were confidentially delivered to the respective individuals.
All three dispute the findings and intend to file a claim with the Financial Services Tribunal to review and suspend these bans. No suspension has been granted yet, so the bans are currently in effect.
Africa Bitcoin noted that the FSCA made no findings against any company in the group and imposed no administrative fines or bans on any group company; the orders concern these three individual persons exclusively.
Wheatley and Karan were suspended from their executive duties effective August 31 as a temporary measure, initially for one month and subject to board review. During this period, they will not exercise any authority on behalf of the company or represent it. Tatum Wheatley's services provided through her consulting business have been suspended.
Stafford Masie takes over leadership
Stafford Masie, Executive Director and Head of Bitcoin Strategy, assumed the role of interim CEO with immediate effect. He will oversee the group's executive agreements related to the Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund, which is wholly owned by an SME lender whose economics underpin the company's preferred ordinary shares, but he will not join the company's board of directors.
Masie is a well-known figure in South African technology. He was the first country manager for Google in South Africa, founded the payment startup Thumbzup, and served on the boards of Discovery Bank and Advtech.
He joined Altvest as a lead independent director, became Executive Chairman in September 2025 when the Bitcoin strategy was announced, and subsequently transitioned to the Bitcoin strategy role.
Wheatley stepped down as Director of Africa Bitcoin Corporation on August 31. He, Karan, and Tatum Wheatley also resigned from the board of Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund on the same date. The board characterized these measures as precautionary and non-disciplinary, stating that they do not reflect an opinion on the merits of the FSCA's findings.
Altvest Capital was originally established as a financing and financial services group for small and medium-sized enterprises, with the Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund being its lending division.
In February 2025, the company acquired one Bitcoin, calling the purchase a systemic test, and became the first listed company in Africa to adopt Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset. In September of the same year, it proposed changing its name to Africa Bitcoin Corporation and presented plans to raise up to $210 million to purchase Bitcoins, clearly modeling itself after Michael Saylor's strategy and Japan's Metaplanet.
Fundraising proved modest compared to these ambitions. By February 2026, the company held 4,550.4 Bitcoins, and after a purchase on May 27, 2026, it held 5,533.1 Bitcoins; the latter purchase was financed through an expansion of a secured credit facility backed by existing coins. The company moved from AltX to the main JSE board in May 2026 following a sub-analysis of its ordinary equity and has since added listings or quotations on A2X, Namibia's NSX, the US OTCQB market, and Deutsche Börse. Joining the Aquis exchange in London was postponed.