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 s...