Busha Leaves the Bush for Britain: Africa-Born Crypto Platform Sets Up Shop in UK With Uphold Backing

Busha, the digital asset platform that built its reputation across Africa, is stepping outside its home turf. With Uphold providing the infrastructure, Busha is launching services in the UK—a move that marks a significant chapter in its growth and serves as a textbook example of cross-border crypto expansion.

UK residents will get access to on-chain financial services through Busha's app, which connects directly to Uphold's systems. That means users can buy, sell, and hold a range of cryptocurrencies right on the platform.

Busha already counts over one million customers across Africa, particularly in Nigeria and Kenya. Since launching in 2019, the company has positioned itself as a platform shaping the future of money on the continent. Moving into the UK felt like a natural next step as demand grows for financial services that work smoothly across borders.

"The UK expansion makes a lot of sense," said Michael Adeyeri, Busha's CEO, pointing to the long-standing family and historical connections between the UK and many African countries. He sees real value in serving families with ties in both regions and believes UK residents deserve access to a full range of digital assets through Busha.

The expansion wasn't exactly a flip-of-a-switch situation. Busha already has compliance credentials—it was among the first crypto exchanges to secure a provisional licence under Nigeria's digital asset exchange framework. But entering the UK meant navigating a fresh set of regulatory demands and infrastructure requirements.

The company faced a choice: build everything internally and spend years going through the registration process solo, or partner with a provider that already had the required systems in place. Busha picked Uphold, citing its compliance-first approach, understanding of UK regulatory expectations, and experience working with regulators.

For Uphold, the partnership adds another case study in how its infrastructure helps fintech and crypto companies expand without starting from scratch in each new market.

"This addresses exactly the kind of challenge blockchain-powered finance was designed to solve," said Robin O'Connell, CEO of Uphold Enterprise. "The ability to move value digitally to anyone, anywhere with an internet connection, at any time." O'Connell noted Uphold was proud to help get Busha's UK digital asset services operational in just a matter of months.

The timing matters. As more crypto companies look for ways to enter new jurisdictions while staying on the right side of local compliance rules, partnerships like this are becoming a practical route to growth. Instead of building out every piece of infrastructure independently, firms can work with regulated providers that already have the technical and legal foundations in place.

Busha’s UK service is available starting today, giving the company a foothold in one of the world’s most closely watched financial markets. The launch may also signal broader ambitions. Busha said it is evaluating a possible business-to-business offering that would provide international payment services to other service providers on its platform, suggesting the UK expansion could eventually become part of a much larger commercial strategy.

Uphold has built its brand around the idea that on-chain services are the future of finance. The company offers infrastructure for on-chain payments, banking, and investments, and serves millions of customers in more than 140 countries. It connects with more than 30 trading venues, including both centralized and decentralized exchanges, in order to provide liquidity, resilience, and efficient execution. Uphold also publishes its assets and liabilities every 30 seconds on a public website.

Uphold is regulated in the U.S. by FinCEN and state regulators, registered in the UK with the FCA, and in Europe with the Bank of Portugal. Its securities products and services are offered through Uphold Securities, Inc., which is registered with the SEC and is also a member of FINRA and SIPC.

For Bush