In brief
- Absa says it is the first bank in Africa to offer digital asset custody, after its Ripple-built service for South African institutions went live on Sept. 21.
- Bitcoin is the main asset clients hold with the bank so far, according to Absa’s head of digital assets, and the service is not open to retail customers.
- Absa joins a market where the FSCA had approved 310 crypto asset service provider licences by March 31, 2026.
Absa, one of South Africa’s largest banks, has started holding bitcoin and other digital assets for institutional clients, and says no other bank in Africa offers the service. Its corporate and investment banking arm launched Absa Digital Asset Custody on Sept. 21, using custody technology from Ripple, and the move drew wider attention on Oct. 2 when Absa’s digital assets chief described what clients are storing.
“Bitcoin is the predominant asset in custody,” Rob Downes, head of digital assets at Absa Corporate and Investment Banking, told Bloomberg. He said the bank is working with clients on other assets they want held in South Africa, and plans to take the service to other African countries where it operates once regulators there approve it.
Who the service is for
Absa’s product page describes a regulated service for safeguarding digital assets and managing the private keys that sign blockchain transactions. The bank told ITWeb it targets asset managers, non-bank financial institutions, corporates and treasury teams, and that it is “not currently a retail cryptocurrency offering.” It has not published a full list of supported assets, fees or client names.
The deal with Ripple dates back to October 2025, when Ripple named Absa its first major custody partner in Africa. Robyn Lawson, Absa’s head of digital product for custody, wrote that keys and approvals sit in secure hardware and that the system derives private keys when needed instead of storing them. That puts Absa on the bank side of the main crypto custody models, where a regulated institution holds keys on the client’s behalf.
How big is South Africa’s licensed crypto market?
South Africa started licensing crypto firms under its financial advisory law in June 2023, after it declared crypto assets financial products, one of the licensing regimes for crypto firms now spreading across markets. By March 31, 2026 the Financial Sector Conduct Authority had received 533 applications, approved 310, declined 17 and seen 124 withdrawn, according to its April update. By our count, approvals make up about 69% of the 451 applications that were decided or withdrawn. The regulator also had 51 open investigations into unlicensed operators.
Rules for moving crypto across the border are still being written. The Reserve Bank and National Treasury published a draft Crypto Assets Manual in August that would make transfers from a local provider to an offshore platform or a self-custody wallet reportable cross-border flows. Comments closed on Sept. 30.
Outside Africa, bank custody has been around for a few years. BNY Mellon put its U.S. platform live in October 2022, and Deutsche Bank plans a service for European institutions later this year. In the U.S., the SEC is weighing a crypto custody plan for advisers and funds.
The next things to watch are which assets Absa adds and whether regulators in its other African markets sign off on the service.
Sources
- Absa CIB: Digital Asset Custody product page
- Absa CIB: The gold standard in digital asset custody, Robyn Lawson
- Ripple: Ripple expands global custody footprint into Africa with Absa Bank, October 15, 2025
- FSCA: Update on licensing and supervision of crypto asset service providers, April 15, 2026
- SARB and National Treasury: Draft Crypto Assets Manual for cross-border activities, August 3, 2026
