Most companies ringing the bell on the JSE are hoping investors will buy into their future. African Bitcoin Corporation (ABC) would also like them to buy into the cryptocurrency.
Having recently graduated to the main board of the JSE — trading at 500c a share — ABC is betting that the world’s best-known cryptocurrency can do more than generate returns. It believes bitcoin can help lower the cost of capital for entrepreneurs operating in some of the world’s most challenging funding environments.
It is a strategy that has attracted the attention of prominent bitcoin economist Saifedean Ammous, whose books The Bitcoin Standard and The Fiat Standard helped shape the thinking behind the company’s approach. Ammous now acts as a strategic adviser for ABC.
Following the acquisition of 0.5085 bitcoin in late May 2026, the group’s total corporate holdings now stand at 5.5331 bitcoin, representing a carrying value of about R8.45m.
“ABC shares are not intended to be a proxy for bitcoin,” says CEO Warren Wheatley. “For the first time in Africa, we’re using bitcoin as part of the foundational structure of our balance sheet.”
Unlike most bitcoin treasury companies, which primarily raise capital to acquire more bitcoin, ABC’s core business remains lending to SMEs through its Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund. Bitcoin, in this case, serves as a mechanism for reducing funding costs and improving the economics of that lending model.
“The lower our cost of capital, the more competitive we can be,” says Wheatley. “The lower SMEs can access funding, the more they can grow and the more jobs they can create.”
The company’s investment thesis rests on a novel proposition. Rather than treating bitcoin as a speculative bet, ABC uses its holdings as collateral to access cheaper funding. Bitcoin is a globally recognised, highly liquid asset. By backing its borrowing with bitcoin, it can secure fiat capital at lower than 5%. ABC then lends this cheap capital to SMEs across Africa at a rate of about 18%-20% per year.
For the first time in Africa, we’re using bitcoin as part of the foundational structure of our balance sheet
— Warren Wheatley
Strategy, co-founded by Michael Saylor and formerly known as MicroStrategy, is known for issuing various financial instruments to fund bitcoin purchases, but Wheatley argues that such structures are less compelling in African markets where government bonds can already offer double-digit returns.
ABC executive director Stafford Masie acknowledges that Saylor’s model has been influential, particularly in demonstrating that public companies can responsibly integrate bitcoin into their balance sheets. But he believes Africa requires a different application of the technology.
Ammous says that as individuals and businesses accumulate a form of money that does not depreciate through inflation, they become more future-orientated. Savings increase, productive investment rises and over time the cost of capital falls.
“The process of saving intensifies,” he says. “People have more capital, so they’re able to produce more productively.” He views ABC as an entrepreneurial application of some of the theories he has explored.
While bitcoin remains controversial in many corners of traditional finance, Ammous argues that its fixed supply is unique among monetary assets.
“Bitcoin is the only one where nobody can change the supply,” he says. “That makes it something serious investors can consider allocating money to. Whatever it is that people use as a form of money will provide the producers with an incentive to amplify it and produce more of it.”
Bitcoin, Ammous says, is the exception. “The supply is completely unresponsive to changes in demand.”
The digital asset has navigated recent market volatility and macroeconomic pressures and is currently trading at about $62,800 after cooling off from earlier highs. To protect against bitcoin’s notorious price swings and shield its loan book from sudden liquidation events, ABC maintains conservative loan-to-value ratios and ensures that it has sufficient cash reserves.
Masie says bitcoin’s volatility is not overly concerning. “We use it as collateral in a very conservative way to unlock fiat capital that we bring to its knees.”
ABC’s management emphasises that the company is still in the early stages of building its strategy. Its gradual accumulation of bitcoin reflects governance requirements, regulatory engagement and the need to establish appropriate structures before scaling.
“We’re not interested in a leaderboard,” says Masie. “We’re interested in making sure the foundation is so well set that we can truly build at scale.”
Beyond its primary JSE listing, ABC trades on South Africa’s A2X Markets and the Namibian Stock Exchange, and further afield on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the US-based OTCQB Venture Market.
The company has spent significant time educating regulators, strengthening board oversight and developing custody and governance frameworks. Its recent main board listing marks another milestone in that process.
Wheatley says the company ultimately wants to be measured not only by the size of its bitcoin holdings but by its ability to lower the cost of capital across Africa and support job creation.
As many bitcoin treasury companies celebrate the growth of their digital asset reserves, Masie says he would rather count the number of lives improved through access to affordable financing. “We’re driven by the human impact,” he says. “Every day we wake up thinking about how we can make loans cheaper and more sustainable.”
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