As a retail investor in Africa, buying cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has become more accessible through apps and peer-to-peer marketplaces.
Users can buy digital assets through crypto apps after completing identity checks and funding their accounts, or trading directly with other users on peer-to-peer platforms. For institutional investors such as pension funds, asset managers, and insurers, the process has been far more complicated.
The rules for institutional investment in digital assets in Africa are either unclear or restrictive, or require fund managers to hold virtual asset licences. Even if these funds are allowed to buy digital assets directly from regulated exchanges, they still have to handle storage, which can be a hassle.
The need for investment-style digital asset products has created two types of workarounds—African exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and crypto treasuries—which began to gain momentum in 2025. If more companies make these alternative investment products widely available, it will solve the accessibility problem for institutional investors at scale.
In June 2025, Sygnia Limited, a publicly listed South African investment firm with R20.5 billion ($1.2 billion) in assets under management, launched a Bitcoin ETF, claiming to be the first in the country. Through its Life Bitcoin Plus Fund, which bundles Bitcoin in a diversified portfolio, the company provides indirect exposure to the cryptocurrency for professional investors.
Altify, a South African alternative investment platform backed by Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)-listed investment firm Sabvest, also offers private crypto-linked investment products, expanding the range of institutional-grade digital asset offerings available in the market.
Bitcoin treasury firms, which hold the cryptocurrency in their reserves, are now testing a different route into African capital markets.
