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Owning Bitcoin and Solana no longer means selling them when cash runs out. Across Africa, digital asset startups are borrowing another idea from traditional finance: lending to consumers who are crypto-rich but cash-poor.
Crypto-backed loans, a form of lending tied to cryptocurrencies, allow users to obtain credit—in fiat, stablecoins, or other digital assets—by pledging their crypto holdings to these startups. It is a form of lending that is gaining momentum in Africa’s largest crypto markets, including Nigeria and South Africa.
In January, Busha, a Nigerian fintech startup that allows users to buy and sell digital assets and pay bills, launched crypto-backed loans as an additional product to its stack. The product offers up to 50% loan-to-value (LTV), allowing users to borrow up to half the value of their Bitcoin and Solana holdings and access the loans in Naira. Busha said it charges a 2% monthly interest.
Busha is one of several African startups offering crypto-backed loans. The emerging product, which borrows some features from the traditional finance sector where lending is a profit centre, could expand core services to crypto users that are overlooked in the broader secured lending market.
