Africa Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), a South African company wey dey focus on Bitcoin investment and financial services, don enter serious boardroom crisis after four directors resign following a dispute with shareholders.
Four Directors Don Leave the Board
Wahala don enter the boardroom of Africa Bitcoin Corporation, a South African company wey dey build its business around Bitcoin investment and financial services.
The company don lose four directors, including its board chairperson and interim chief executive officer, following disagreements with shareholder WGW Capital Proprietary Limited.
The departing directors include Norma Sephuma, the board chairperson; Stafford Masie, the interim CEO; and independent non-executive directors Snowy Masakale and GG Alcock.
According to the company’s announcement, the directors said their differences with WGW Capital had become irreconcilable.
Their resignations come after shareholders launched a push to change the company’s board.
With only two directors remaining, ABC now faces the challenge of rebuilding its leadership structure while continuing its business operations.
The remaining directors are Robin Coode, an independent non-executive director, and Jonathan Phillips, the company’s financial director.
Dem dey work with the company’s advisers to restore the board and its committees in line with regulatory requirements and the rules of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
Shareholders Want New Directors
The dispute centres on two separate shareholder demands.
First, shareholders representing approximately 76% of ABC’s shares demanded the appointment of two new non-executive directors.
However, the board opposed the proposed appointments at that time, citing concerns about governance and regulatory integrity.
The company said its objection was not a general judgment about the professional experience or capabilities of the proposed candidates.
ABC also acknowledged that the shareholders had validly demanded a meeting under South Africa’s Companies Act and said it would take the necessary steps to present the proposed resolutions in line with applicable requirements.
The company’s announcement did not identify the proposed candidates or provide a meeting date.
A second demand, backed by shareholders holding approximately 71.8% of the company’s shares, sought the removal of four existing directors.
All four directors have since resigned, making the removal resolutions unnecessary.
However, the original demand to appoint two new directors remains unresolved.
This means ABC must now address the shareholder dispute while working to restore its board and governance structures.
From Small-Business Financing to Bitcoin Investment
The leadership crisis comes at an important point in ABC’s business transformation.
The company previously operated as Altvest Capital, focusing on investment opportunities that included financing small and medium-sized enterprises.
It listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange in May 2022, with an initial valuation of approximately R50 million.
The company later introduced additional share classes to raise funding for different investment opportunities.
However, trading in its securities remained relatively limited. Figures published in its 2024 prospectus showed that only 42,420 ordinary shares changed hands between July 2023 and July 2024.
Altvest moved its equity listing to the JSE’s AltX Market in October 2024 before transferring its shares to the JSE Main Board in May 2026.
In 2025, the company expanded its strategy by adopting Bitcoin as a long-term treasury asset.
Shareholders approved the rebrand from Altvest Capital to Africa Bitcoin Corporation in September 2025, with the new name and ticker taking effect on the JSE later that month.
The company has retained its small-business financing activities while pursuing its Bitcoin investment strategy.
The latest boardroom dispute therefore arrives at a time when the company is managing both a strategic transformation and significant leadership changes.
Former Executives Face Regulatory Action
ABC’s boardroom problems also follow regulatory action involving individuals associated with its former Altvest Capital business.
South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) found that former CEO Warren Wheatley, his wife Tatum Keshwar-Wheatley, and former chief investment officer Akshay Karan manipulated Altvest shares in September 2022.
According to the regulator, the transactions artificially inflated the share price and created a misleading impression of market demand and trading activity.
The three individuals received combined fines of R9 million and were debarred from the financial services industry for 20 years.
The regulatory action was against the individuals, not ABC itself.
Wheatley has disputed the regulator’s findings.
In an interview with financial publication Moneyweb on October 9, 2026, he argued that the transactions involved only three trades covering 50 shares worth R301. He said the trades were intended to test the Cape Town Stock Exchange’s trading platform and identify pricing errors.
The individuals subsequently pursued applications for reconsideration and suspension of the regulatory decisions before the Financial Services Tribunal.
The tribunal confirmed that it received and processed the applications on September 25, 2026. As of its latest response described in the supplied report, it had not ruled on the suspension application or set a hearing date.
The process remains ongoing, and the individuals’ challenges to the findings have not been resolved in the information provided.
More Leadership Changes for ABC
The board dispute follows several executive departures.
Warren Wheatley, ABC’s co-founder and former CEO, resigned from the company effective September 21, 2026, after being placed on precautionary leave.
Akshay Karan, who had also been placed on precautionary leave, resigned as chief investment officer effective October 1.
Stafford Masie took over as interim CEO after Wheatley went on precautionary leave.
Masie has now resigned as a director and from his leadership role at Bitcoin Strategy, ABC’s Bitcoin investment subsidiary. His intended final day of executive service is February 28, 2027.
The company said Masie had agreed to continue supporting the management team, maintaining operational continuity, and helping facilitate an orderly transition to permanent executive leadership.
Despite the departures, ABC says its executive management team remains in place and will continue handling daily operations within its existing authorised responsibilities.
Wetin Happens Next?
ABC now faces two important tasks: rebuilding its board and resolving the outstanding shareholder demand for two additional non-executive directors.
The remaining directors must work with advisers to restore the company’s board and committee structures while ensuring compliance with applicable legal and listing requirements.
The situation also raises broader questions about corporate governance, shareholder influence, and how listed companies should manage disagreements over leadership and strategic direction.
For a company pursuing a Bitcoin treasury strategy, investor confidence and effective oversight remain important considerations.
However, the immediate challenge is more basic: ABC must establish a functioning board capable of overseeing the company while the shareholder dispute continues.
For now, four directors don leave, only two remain, and the fight over who should control the board is not yet over.
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