{"id":52472,"date":"2026-10-02T18:12:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T18:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=52472"},"modified":"2026-10-02T18:12:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T18:12:28","slug":"south-africas-absa-becomes-first-bank-on-the-continent-to-custody-bitcoin-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=52472","title":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin Magazine<\/a>
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\nSouth Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report<\/a><\/p>\n

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South African bank Absa has become the first African lender to custody bitcoin, according to reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As reported<\/a> first by Bloomberg on Friday, the Johannesburg-based lender will serve institutional clients, mostly by custodying bitcoin \u2014 but other digital assets will also be a part of the service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Banks worldwide are integrating or offering bitcoin-related products and services. A number of U.S. and European banks have started offering crypto-related services by custodying assets for institutions.<\/p>\n

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JUST IN: \"\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6\" Absa has become the first African bank to offer Bitcoin custody \"\ud83d\udc4f\" pic.twitter.com\/JaDza3S7Ez<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) October 2, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Rob Downes, head of digital assets at Absa\u2019s corporate and investment banking unit, was quoted saying that while bitcoin was the biggest asset the bank would custody, others would follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Absa did not immediately respond to questions from Bitcoin Magazine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The African continent has a large crypto-native base, with data firms frequently highlighting the high adoption \u2014 particularly in countries where currencies have been significantly debased.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Chainalysis\u2019s 2025 report<\/a>, South Africa\u2019s $36.0 billion in on-chain value made it second in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria alone received $92.1 billion, nearly three times the total of second-place South Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the global index, South Africa<\/a> ranked 30th for crypto adoption.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The character of its market is different from Nigeria<\/a>\u2018s: it\u2019s more institutional, with regulatory clarity resulting in hundreds of licenses being issued to VASPs and attracting professional investors and traditional finance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BNY Mellon in 2022 became<\/a> the first major U.S. bank to offer digital asset custody services. And this month, German multinational Deutsche Bank said<\/a> it would debut a bitcoin custody service for European corporate and institutional clients later in 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

This post South Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report<\/a> first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine<\/a> and is written by Mathew Di Salvo<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin Magazine South Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report South African bank Absa has become the first African lender to custody bitcoin, according to reports.\u00a0 As reported first by Bloomberg on Friday, the Johannesburg-based lender will serve institutional clients, mostly by custodying bitcoin \u2014 but other digital assets will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bitcoin"],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report - Cryptomag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=52472\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report - Cryptomag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bitcoin Magazine South Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report South African bank Absa has become the first African lender to custody bitcoin, according to reports.\u00a0 As reported first by Bloomberg on Friday, the Johannesburg-based lender will serve institutional clients, mostly by custodying bitcoin \u2014 but other digital assets will […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cryptomag.finance\/?p=52472\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cryptomag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-02T18:12:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/South-Africas-Absa-Becomes-First-Bank-on-the-Continent-to-Custody-Bitcoin.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Crypto Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cryptomagz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cryptomagz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Crypto Magazine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=52472#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=52472\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Crypto Magazine\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f749cd846c4f13ef717c12a20ce9d040\"},\"headline\":\"South Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-02T18:12:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=52472\"},\"wordCount\":334,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=52472#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/South-Africas-Absa-Becomes-First-Bank-on-the-Continent-to-Custody-Bitcoin-jzoIkn.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Bitcoin\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=52472\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cryptomag.finance\\\/?p=52472\",\"name\":\"South Africa\u2019s Absa Becomes First Bank on the Continent to Custody Bitcoin: Report - 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