Libex

What Libex does

Libex is a South Africa-based, private blockchain company founded in 2021 that operates an integrated Web3 ecosystem targeted at African retail crypto investors, African creatives, and alternative-asset investors. The company is headquartered at the WITS Innovation Hub in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, and runs a micro team of 1-10 employees. Its stated mission is financial inclusion for the African continent via user-friendly, low-cost blockchain infrastructure.

The product stack is anchored by Libex Chain (LBX), a proprietary Layer-1 blockchain with a claimed 3-second block time, on top of which sit three consumer-facing platforms: Libex Quota, which fractionalizes real-world assets into tradeable tokens with near-zero fees; Libex OTC, a cryptocurrency exchange supporting BTC, ETH, LBX, and fiat (USD, ZAR) with bank-transfer rails; and the Libex NFT Marketplace, which supports digital collectibles across four major blockchains and offers free minting on the LBX chain. The ecosystem is designed to interoperate through the LBX token and the planned sZAR stablecoin, with wallet integrations including MetaMask and Trust Wallet. Distribution is web-based, self-serve, and community-led, leveraging educational content and an Africa-focused blockchain narrative.

The business model is transaction-fee based across all three consumer surfaces — a 3% fee on NFT trades, OTC service fees on crypto/fiat trades, and platform fees on Quota STO activity. Pricing is pay-as-you-go with no publicly disclosed tiers. As of the most recent observation, the NFT and OTC sub-platforms are in maintenance mode, and on-chain telemetry displayed on the company website (latest block, total sZAR, circulating LBX) reads zero, indicating the live activity base is minimal or stalled.

Name

Libex

Legal name

Libex

Website

https://libex.ai

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Libex is a Johannesburg-based blockchain company operating an integrated African Web3 ecosystem — proprietary LBX Chain plus NFT marketplace, OTC crypto exchange, and tokenized real-world-asset platform — serving retail crypto users and African creatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Infrastructure & Digital Asset Exchange

NAICS

Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage (5231)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAPADAA

Centralized Crypto Exchanges (CEX)

Financial & Insurance/Blockchain & Web3/Exchanges, Trading & Liquidity (CEX/DEX, market makers, aggregators)

SECONDARYFSAPADAG

Brokerages & On/Off-Ramps (fiat rails, instant buy/sell)

Financial & Insurance/Blockchain & Web3/Exchanges, Trading & Liquidity (CEX/DEX, market makers, aggregators)

SECONDARYFSAPAIAJ

Enterprise Payments & Tokenized Money (stablecoins, tokenized deposits, CBDC rails)

Financial & Insurance/Blockchain & Web3/Enterprise Blockchain & Tokenization (permissioned networks, RWA tokenization)

SECONDARYBPAMAFAL

Crypto Payments & Stablecoin Settlement Platforms

Business & Public Services/Web, Mobile & Digital Platforms/Payments, Wallets & Digital Banking Platforms

Keywords

• Blockchain platform
• NFT marketplace
• Cryptocurrency exchange
• Real-world asset tokenization
• Fractional asset investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Sandton

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. NFT Transaction Fees: A small transaction fee of 3% is charged on NFT trades on the Libex NFT Marketplace. Minting is free to promote financial inclusion.
2. OTC Exchange Service Fees: Small service fees charged for cryptocurrency trading services on the OTC platform, including buy/sell/trade operations between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
3. Security Token Offering (STO) Fees: Public offering of security tokens on the Libex Quota exchange platform, facilitating tokenized asset trading with associated platform fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Libex operates an end-to-end blockchain ecosystem for financial inclusion in Africa, centered on its proprietary Libex Chain (LBX). The ecosystem comprises four products: Libex Quota (tokenization/fractionalized investment in real-world assets), Libex OTC (cryptocurrency exchange supporting fiat and digital currencies), the Libex NFT Marketplace (digital collectibles trading with complimentary gas fees on LBX), and the LBX Chain itself. Users can deposit fiat or crypto, trade, invest in tokenized assets, and mint NFTs without sales intervention.

Product overview

Libex is a unified blockchain ecosystem consisting of four interconnected products: Libex Chain serves as the foundational blockchain platform powering the entire ecosystem; Libex Quota is a fractionalized investment platform for tokenizing real-world assets; Libex OTC is a cryptocurrency exchange for trading digital and fiat currencies; and the Libex NFT Marketplace is an African-focused digital collectibles marketplace. The ecosystem enables financial inclusion in Africa by providing end-to-end blockchain services from buying tokens to purchasing digital assets, with products supporting fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto transactions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Libex Quota: Digital platform for fractionalized investment in real-world assets and transformational projects, enabling crowd-based capital allocation.
• Libex OTC
• Libex NFT Marketplace
• Libex Chain

Products and services

• Libex Quota Digital investment platform that fractionalizes real-world assets into smaller investable tokens using smart contracts on the Libex Chain, enabling retail investors to diversify wealth through 24/7 token trading with near-zero transaction fees and dividend payouts. Users register once on the platform, deposit fiat or crypto, browse curated fractionalized investment opportunities, and invest in digital assets.
• Libex OTC Cryptocurrency exchange platform that lets users buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, LBX coin and other digital currencies against fiat currencies including USD and South African Rands, with KYC verification, candlestick chart views, and bank deposit/withdrawal support from major South African banks. Users deposit fiat directly from their bank account and withdraw crypto profits to their bank with minimal wait times.
• Libex NFT Marketplace Africa-focused NFT marketplace running on the proprietary LBX chain that allows users to buy, sell, and trade digital collectibles across 4 major blockchains, with complimentary gas fees when minting on LBX and support for both African creators and international NFTs. Users connect MetaMask or Trust Wallet to start transacting securely, and can manually transfer digital collectibles between wallets.
• Libex Chain (LBX) Proprietary in-house blockchain technology powering the entire Libex ecosystem with a 3-second block time, providing immutable and transparent transactions and supporting the LBX token and sZAR stablecoin for the Quota, OTC and NFT products. Available for developers and users seeking to build or transact on the chain.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3-second block time enables faster transactions than many competing blockchains
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Coinbase: Coinbase is a US-headquartered centralized crypto exchange and the most prominent publicly listed CEX globally. It is comparable to Libex OTC in core exchange functionality and in pursuing regulatory clarity for crypto trading services, and represents a benchmark for what a scaled CEX franchise could look like.
• OpenSea: OpenSea is the largest global NFT marketplace, supporting multiple blockchains and a broad creator and collector base. It is comparable to Libex NFT Marketplace in product functionality (NFT trading, multi-chain support, gas fees) and competes for the same African and international NFT creators Libex targets.
• Kraken: Kraken is a global centralized crypto exchange offering spot trading, staking, and fiat on-ramps, with a strong compliance posture. Comparable to Libex OTC as a CEX operating in multiple regions and competing for the same retail crypto investor pool.
• Binance Africa: Binance is the world's largest centralized crypto exchange and runs dedicated P2P and fiat on-ramp operations across Africa via local payment partners. It competes with Libex OTC for African retail crypto traders and represents the dominant incumbent Libex must differentiate against.

Direct peers

• VALR: VALR is a Johannesburg-based centralized crypto exchange serving South African retail and institutional traders with ZAR pairs and OTC services. Comparable to Libex OTC in target customer, geography, and centralized exchange operating model.
• Yellow Card: Yellow Card operates a pan-African crypto exchange and payments platform enabling fiat-to-crypto on-ramps across multiple African countries. Comparable to Libex because it targets African retail crypto adoption and provides regional fiat rails similar to Libex OTC's ZAR deposits.
• Rarible: Rarible is a multi-chain NFT marketplace that emphasizes community governance and low-fee trading. It is comparable to Libex NFT Marketplace because both operate multi-chain NFT trading venues aimed at creators and compete on cost-of-minting and transaction fees.
• Luno: Luno is a leading South Africa-headquartered centralized crypto exchange offering fiat on/off-ramps in ZAR and other African currencies. It is the closest direct competitor to Libex OTC given its overlapping retail crypto audience, ZAR bank integrations, and African financial inclusion focus.

Emerging players

• Bitfinex Securities: Bitfinex Securities operates a regulated platform for tokenized real-world assets and security token offerings. It is comparable to Libex Quota because both focus on fractionalized/tokenized traditional assets and target investors seeking exposure to RWAs via blockchain-based infrastructure.

Regional players

• Centbee: Centbee is a South African cryptocurrency wallet and payments app focused on Bitcoin and BSV-based everyday payments. It overlaps with Libex's African crypto adoption mission and serves a similar retail user base, though its product is a wallet rather than a full exchange or NFT marketplace.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LibexQuota
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/libex-marketplace

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Libex