South Africa’s Absa Launches Africa’s First Bank Digital-Asset Custody Service

South Africa’s Absa Group has launched a digital-asset custody service, becoming the first bank in Africa to do so.

Bloomberg reported on October 2 that, after securing approval from South African regulators, Absa has begun offering digital-asset storage, management and transfer services to institutional clients including asset managers, non-bank financial institutions and companies.

The service currently supports Bitcoin (BTC), the XRP Ledger (XRPL), Ether (ETH) and USD Coin (USDC), with plans to expand the range of supported assets. Bitcoin accounts for the largest share of assets under custody.

According to the South African Reserve Bank, assets under custody at three major local digital-asset firms more than doubled to 25.3 billion rand, or about $1.5 billion, at the end of 2024 from less than 10 billion rand at the start of 2023.

Rob Downs, head of digital assets at Absa Corporate and Investment Banking, said the bank is working to expand the service to other client segments in South Africa and, subject to regulatory approval, offer the solution in other African countries.