The Bitcoin Beacon
Startups in Africa’s biggest crypto market now lend naira against bitcoin — so holders can raise cash without selling.
In Africa’s biggest crypto market, the new thing to do with bitcoin is to not sell it. Busha, a Lagos exchange, has lent naira against customers’ bitcoin since January: pledge the coin, borrow up to half its value, keep the upside. Interest runs 2% a month.
TechCabal reported Monday that the product is spreading across Nigeria and South Africa as startups borrow a page from traditional finance — lending is a profit centre, and crypto-rich, cash-poor customers are a secured-lending market nobody else serves. Some lenders deploy their own capital; others route liquidity from global protocols such as Morpho.
Since January 1, selling digital assets in Nigeria triggers up to 25% tax on gains, and exchanges must report every user’s transactions to the tax authority. A loan is different: the borrower gets naira, keeps the position, and books no gain.
A loan is not a disposal.
The base underneath is enormous. Nigeria moved roughly $92 billion on-chain in the year to June 2025, and Sub-Saharan Africa’s $205 billion was up 52% year over year — the fastest-growing region on earth.
A 50% loan-to-value cushion is margin-call machinery: if bitcoin falls hard, collateral gets liquidated at the worst moment. And the pledged coins sit with the lender — a custody risk this column never tires of flagging.
In Kenya bitcoin became a way to pay; in South Africa, a way to check out. In Nigeria it is becoming collateral — and the day lenders accept an asset as security is the day it starts functioning as capital.
Editor’s note: Busha’s loan product launched in January and lends against bitcoin and other assets; we cover only the bitcoin leg. Loan-book sizes are not public — the trend is documented, its scale is not. Verify terms independently before borrowing against anything.
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