SMC DAO acquires Nigerian crypto startup Bread Africa in six-figure deal

SirMapy and Co. decentralised autonomous organisation (SMC DAO), a community of crypto traders and investors that backs and builds Web3 products, has acquired Nigerian crypto startup Bread Africa in an undisclosed all-cash six-figure deal. 

The deal adds to a growing list of acquisitions among local crypto startups and reflects the steady consolidation underway in Nigeria’s digital asset ecosystem. In 2025, crypto startup Roqqu acquired Flitaa, an exchange platform with operations in Nigeria and Kenya, for an undisclosed amount. 

In Bread Africa’s case, the acquisition deepens an existing relationship between the buyer and the founder: its chief executive officer, Iam Etefia, previously sold two earlier ventures, Peniwallet and Peniremit, to SMC DAO in 2023 for $250,000.

Founded in 2025, Bread Africa operates as a web-based crypto application that allows users to convert digital assets into local currency. The product stripped away the typical barriers associated with crypto transactions, with no sign-ups, no wallet connections, and no Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, offering what Etefia describes as a “frictionless” experience.

Behind that simplicity was a more complex setup. Bread Africa ran on several blockchains, including Base and Solana, but ultimately settled transactions in compliant naira (cNGN), the naira-backed stablecoin, on Base to make transactions faster and cheaper.

The platform converted crypto funds into cNGN and paid them directly into users’ bank accounts, enabling near-instant crypto-to-fiat conversions.

Bread Africa also attracted early ecosystem backing. The startup received grants from cNGN, Base, and blockchain infrastructure provider Alchemy, reflecting its early integration into emerging crypto rails tied to the Nigerian market.

“We integrated them [cNGN] without even having a relationship with them,” said Etefia in an interview with TechCabal. “We saw what cNGN could do and believed the naira could be spent globally, not just in Nigeria, so we built around that.”

The startup, run by a three-person team, including Etefia, his co-founder, Maven Harry, and a community manager, had processed over $1.8 million in total payment volume (TPV) at the time of sale, according to Etefia.

The acquisition transfers all of Bread Africa’s operational and branding assets to SMC DAO, which has long sought to own an exchange product within its ecosystem. Etefia will remain involved in an advisory capacity, consulting on Bread Africa’s development, while stepping back from day-to-day operations.

His team, however, is moving on.

Etefia and his co-founder will now focus fully on Loaf, a separate product they are building independently of the acquisition. The product is a significant expansion of Bread Africa’s original concept. 

Loaf goes beyond simple crypto swaps and functions as a “Web3 bank,” allowing users to spend crypto as easily as cash, including paying bills, buying airtime, and making cross-border payments without relying on traditional exchanges. For Etefia, selling Bread Africa and continuing to advise on it frees up his small team to concentrate on Loaf, which he argues has a much bigger upside.

SMC DAO, the acquiring entity, operates as a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), an online community that pools funds and votes on what products to build or buy, similar to Shiba Inu and PEPE. For the community, Bread Africa is a ready‑made product that already helps people cash out of crypto into bank accounts.

Under its new ownership, Bread Africa, which is currently under maintenance, will keep its core operational identity. 

“Bread Africa will remain a seamless web-based app with no sign-ups, wallet connections, or KYC required,” said an SMC DAO spokesperson. “We’re going to position the product as the go-to swap for cryptocurrencies.”

The organisation is positioning the platform as a go-to destination for swapping digital assets, similar to decentralised exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap and PancakeSwap, which let users trade cryptocurrencies directly without intermediaries. 

SMC DAO also plans to evolve Bread Africa into a broader financial gateway that functions as an on-ramp, enabling users to exchange fiat for cryptocurrencies, and an off-ramp, to go back to cash. This is similar to how services like MoonPay work with crypto wallets such as Phantom, enabling users to buy and sell digital assets using traditional payment methods.

Future iterations of Bread Africa will include support for multiple currencies, fiat-to-fiat conversions, and access to tokenised assets, such as stocks and commodities, which are digital versions of real-world financial instruments that can be traded on the blockchain, according to SMC DAO.

As part of its post-acquisition strategy, the organisation has said it intends to transform Bread Africa into a “swap everything” platform, enabling users to move between crypto, fiat, and other digital representations of real-world assets.

While the deal is modest in size and scope, it highlights a familiar pattern in Africa’s tech scene: small teams building focused products, testing user behaviour, and exiting early, often to ecosystem players looking to assemble broader financial platforms piece by piece.