A new name, Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi, has popped up in the crypto space following amended rules by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), mandating that digital asset platforms must be registered and licensed to operate.
This development came after the Nigerian government’s clampdown on cryptocurrency exchange platforms in February 2021, followed by a rule amendment that required all operators in the space to register officially.
As a result, Busha—a crypto exchange platform—became the first digital asset company licensed by the SEC. The platform allows users to buy and sell digital currencies and now offers products similar to those of conventional financial institutions, enabling users to invest in stablecoin pairs and earn interest. So, who is Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi?
Meet Samuel-Biyi, the guy behind Busha exchange
Born in July 1990, Samuel-Biyi, a Nigerian-British cryptoeconomics specialist, has been active in the fintech space for over 10 years. He has co-founded several startups, including SureGifts—a gift card company operating in Nigeria and across Africa—where people can convert their gift cards to local currency.
Education
He bagged a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance ACCA Embedded at the University of the West Indies in Barbados. He later attended London School of Economics for his Masters degree in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
From e-commerce worker to a founder
At age 22, when Jumia Nigeria—an e-commerce platform—launched in 2012, Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi was a financial reporter for the company. He went on to hold three senior roles before exiting the company in 2013 as the Business Intelligence lead in charge of production and purchasing.
He then joined Lagos-based Venture Garden Group as a Senior Manager in charge of Strategy, Product Investment & Commercialization, between June 2013 and January 2014.
In 2014, he founded SureGroup, a conglomerate that includes SureGifts (a platform for shopping vouchers used for gifting and rewards) and SureRemit, a voucher-based platform for international remittances, according to his profile on “Find and update company info,” a portal managed by the UK Government.
In 2018, he co-founded Busha, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, along with his colleagues Moyo Sodipo (COO) and Michael Adeyeri (CEO).
Making Forbes Africa Under 30 List
By June 2018, a month before his 28th birthday, Olaoluwa Samuel-Biyi had made the Forbes Africa Under 30 list 2018 for innovations in technology on the continent.
He shared the spotlight with other innovative young minds, including South Africa’s Rivo Mhlari (founder of Rikatec), Tanzania’s Isaya Yunge (founder of SomaApps Technologies Company Limited), Uganda’s Kevin Lubega (founder of EzeeMoney), and Kenya’s Leonida Mutuku (founder of Intelipro), among others.
A part-time teacher
Samuel-Biyi has also explored teaching, serving as a part-time lecturer at two institutions in the United Kingdom. He first taught at Anglia Ruskin University in 2020, then at Hult International Business School in 2023, where he lectured on Social Innovation, Alternative Investments, and Blockchain, among other subjects. He later served as a coach at Cambridge Judge Business School.
A serial entrepreneur
In addition to co-founding Busha, he also co-founded YouSend, a stablecoin-powered remittance firm that allows users to send money from any part of the world.
His professional experience spans Blockchain.com, GreenHouse Capital Africa, and the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies (CBT), where he served as an Industry Associate.