Ripple just made its first big African power move by partnering with South African banking heavyweight Absa to offer crypto asset custody to the bank’s customers.
This is Ripple’s grand entry into Africa’s crypto custody game, signaling serious intent to expand its institutional footprint on the continent.
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African frontier
First, Absa isn’t your average mom-and-pop bank. Holding $119.5 billion in assets as of 2024 and raking in $6.34 billion revenue last year, it’s one of Africa’s financial titans.
With Ripple’s tech behind them, Absa’s clients can now park their crypto safely using bank-grade custody services, a digital Fort Knox, if you will.
This partnership comes amid a rising demand for secure, compliant crypto infrastructure in emerging markets, says Ripple’s Middle East and Africa chief, Reece Merrick, who called it a central key to unlock Africa’s digital asset potential.
Ripple has been busy on the African frontier this year. In March, it teamed up with payment provider Chipper Cash to juice up cross-border crypto remittances.
And in September, it launched its USD-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, across Africa alongside partners like Chipper Cash, VALR exchange, and Yellow Card payment service, Ripple clearly signaling that Africa is a core piece of its global crypto chessboard.
Today, we’re excited to announce that @AbsaSouthAfrica , one of Africa’s leading financial institutions, is now @Ripple ’s first major custody partner in Africa:
We’re bringing institutional digital asset custody to South Africa, providing the secure and…
— Ripple (@Ripple) October 15, 2025
Big players
Custody is the name of the game. Launched about a year ago and boosted by Ripple’s acquisition of Standard Custody in 2024, Ripple’s custody service aims to be the digital vault for banks and fintech firms worldwide.
The Absa deal is their first major African custody partnership, but Ripple has been snuggling up with big players elsewhere, partnering with Bahrain Fintech Bay, Spanish bank BBVA, South Korean custodian BDA, and even HSBC since 2023.
Heating up on the crypto map
This dance between traditional finance and crypto keeps getting sexier. BlackRock’s crypto products powered one of its strongest quarters recently, with its Bitcoin ETF raking in nearly $245 million in fees alone last year.
Morgan Stanley now allows all its clients to invest in crypto funds, and BNY Mellon is flirting with tokenized deposits for instant, 24/7 transfers.
So no, Ripple’s Absa partnership isn’t just ink on paper, but it’s a beacon showing how Africa is heating up on the crypto map, with traditional finance throwing in with crypto assets to rewrite the money rules.
If you’re watching crypto’s big moves, this one’s a blinking neon sign.
Cryptocurrency and Web3 expert, founder of Kriptoworld
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With years of experience covering the blockchain space, András delivers insightful reporting on DeFi, tokenization, altcoins, and crypto regulations shaping the digital economy.
