South Africa’s Absa becomes Africa’s first bank with Bitcoin custody

Absa has launched a regulated digital-asset custody service after receiving approval from South African regulators. The bank is providing custody, administration, and asset-movement infrastructure for institutional customers, hedge funds, and corporate treasuries, moving crypto storage into the same commercial banking framework used for other financial assets.

Bitcoin Magazine reported that Absa is the first African bank to offer Bitcoin custody. The service initially supports Bitcoin, Ether, XRP Ledger assets, and USDC, with more assets planned; Absa serves about 13 million clients.