First National Bank opens Bitcoin trading to nearly 9 million clients

South Africa’s second-largest bank is letting its customers buy Bitcoin without ever leaving the banking app. First National Bank (FNB) has unveiled a feature called “Crypto Investing” that opens digital asset trading to nearly 9 million retail clients.

FNB is the retail banking arm of the FirstRand group. It announced the service on October 6, 2026, and built it in partnership with VALR, a local crypto exchange. Clients can buy, sell and trade digital assets directly on the bank’s existing share-trading platform.

What FNB clients can actually trade

The menu is short for now. The service supports five assets: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Solana (SOL) and the USDT stablecoin from Tether.

The barrier to entry is about as low as it gets. Trades start at a minimum of R10, which works out to about $0.60.

Trading runs 24/7, which matches how crypto markets operate. Clients fund their purchases directly from their FNB accounts. There is no need to wire money to a third-party exchange or juggle a separate login.

The feature plugs into FNB’s existing investment products. Those include Share Saver, Share Builder, Share Investor and Share Zero.

The walled garden approach

There is one significant catch. Any crypto bought through FNB stays inside the bank’s ecosystem. Clients cannot send their coins out to an external wallet or another exchange.

FNB has two reasons for the restriction. The first is compliance with South African exchange-control regulations, which govern how money and value move across the country’s borders. The second is security. Keeping assets within a controlled environment reduces the risk of customers sending funds to scam wallets or fraudulent platforms.

FNB executives pointed to strong customer demand for alternative investments as the motivation. They framed the bank as a trusted gateway to these markets, one that comes with established risk management attached.

South African banks warm up to crypto

FNB is not the first mover here. Discovery Bank struck a similar arrangement with crypto exchange Luno in November 2025.

The local numbers back that up. More than 6 million South Africans were estimated to hold crypto assets as of late 2025. Over that same period, more than R25 billion in crypto assets were reported under custody at major platforms.

What this means for investors and the banking sector

For VALR, the partnership is a distribution win. Exchanges usually spend heavily to acquire customers one at a time. Plugging into a major bank’s client base offers reach that is hard to build independently.

FNB says it plans to expand the list of supported assets. The bank also intends to provide educational resources to help clients understand the complexities and risks of digital currencies.