Absa Becomes First African Bank to Offer Digital-Asset Custody

Absa Group, the Johannesburg-headquartered lender, has become the first bank in Africa to offer digital-asset custody, aiming to tap into a market valued at around $1.5 billion. The service, which currently supports Bitcoin, XRP Ledger, Ethereum, and USDC, will provide secure safekeeping, administration, and transfer services for digital assets to its South African institutional clients, including asset managers, non-bank financial institutions, and corporates.

According to Absa's head of digital assets, Rob Downes, the bank plans to expand its custody services to support other assets. 'Bitcoin is the predominant asset in custody,' Downes said, adding that the lender is working with clients to support 'other crypto assets they would like to be custodied in South Africa.'

The South African Reserve Bank estimates that crypto assets under custody at the nation's three biggest licensed service providers more than doubled to R25.3 billion ($1.5 billion) by the end of 2024, from less than R10 billion at the start of 2023. The worldwide custody market is valued at roughly $953.5 billion by 2026, and is projected to grow to as much as $4.38 trillion by 2033.