Bitcoin dominates Absa's custody book as Africa's first bank crypto custodian

Bloomberg reported on Oct. 2 that Johannesburg-based Absa is providing digital asset custody to institutional clients in South Africa and identified it as the first bank on the continent to offer the service.

Rob Downes, head of digital assets at Absa's Corporate and Investment Banking division, said Bitcoin accounts for the largest part of the assets currently held.

"Bitcoin is the predominant asset in custody."

At launch the platform supports Bitcoin, Ether, XRPL assets and USDC; Absa plans to add more assets but has not tied that to a specific timeline.

Downes said Absa expects to extend custody to other client groups in South Africa and is working to bring the service to other African countries where it operates.

The bank is working with customers on other crypto assets they want held in South Africa.

Robyn Lawson, Absa CIB's head of digital product for custody, said the bank combines Ripple's software for sending transactions to blockchain networks with its own internal infrastructure.

South African asset managers and corporate treasuries can now hold digital assets with a domestic bank they already know, under rules they already follow.

Absa says the service runs within the bank's existing governance and compliance frameworks and operates under South African regulatory oversight.

Retail customers are explicitly excluded from the service.

Bloomberg reported that expansion into other African markets would depend on the required regulatory approvals.

A custodian holds assets for clients, keeps them safe, keeps the records, and moves them when instructed.

The Ripple arrangement gives Absa ready-built infrastructure rather than forcing it to engineer custody systems from scratch.

Lawson said Absa would begin with core custody functions and develop further capabilities according to customer needs and changes in regulation.

Bitcoin Magazine said Absa had not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Lawson said keys and transaction authorizations are protected within secure hardware environments and the system derives private keys securely when needed rather than keeping permanently stored private keys.

Lawson said losing access to keys can create operational, reputational and regulatory risks for both the business and its clients.

Chainalysis placed South Africa second in Sub-Saharan Africa by crypto value received, at about $36 billion between July 2024 and June 2025.

Nigeria led Sub-Saharan Africa with $92.1 billion of crypto value received over the same period.

Chainalysis reported more than $205 billion in on-chain value across Sub-Saharan Africa in the 12 months, an increase of roughly 52% from the previous year.

Chainalysis attributed a more institutional market in South Africa to the country's regulatory framework and hundreds of licensed virtual asset service providers.

South African crypto assets were expected to more than double to around 25.3 billion rand (approximately $1.5 billion) by the end of 2024, according to South African Reserve Bank figures.

U.S. banks have received regulatory clarification allowing crypto custody and related customer services.

South Africa's yearly crypto value received is about 24 times the central bank's expected end-2024 stock of crypto assets.

Nigeria's crypto value received is about 2.6 times South Africa's.

South Africa accounts for under 18% of Sub-Saharan Africa's on-chain value.

For Ripple, success in South Africa could become a template; a working custodian relationship with a large African bank strengthens its pitch to other lenders on the continent.