Crypto, and especially stablecoins, will rapidly move from early experimentation towards mainstream for African merchants over the next two to three years.
As the regulatory fog lifts, customer familiarity with stablecoins is set to accelerate as banks and major platforms roll them out, normalising crypto payments.
Africa experiences a jump in crypto growth
Between July 2024 and June 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa saw a 52% year-on-year growth, recording over $205 billion in on-chain value, making it the world’s third fastest growing crypto market. South Africa contributed an estimated $35 to 40 billion of that total, driven by strong stablecoin usage and a big bump in institutional activity.
Stablecoins now make up over 45% of all crypto volume in the region, largely due to their role in solving cross-border trade and merchant payments challenges.
Not only do they provide dollar-denominated value storage and transfer without the volatility of Bitcoin or Ethereum, but they aren’t hampered by the friction and cost of traditional forex channels.
A big boost also came from an increase in regulatory certainty, including CASP licensing in South Africa, Kenya enacting its VASP Act, and Nigeria’s SEC formalising oversight frameworks.
“Adoption will hit hard this year and the curve will be exponential rather than gradual,” says Daniel Katz, co-founder and CEO at South African cryptocurrency and stablecoin payment infrastructure company, Ezeebit. “Fortunately the lag between regulation being written and its impact being felt is finally closing. At the same time, banks and payments players are actively building tokenization and stablecoin projects, and rand‑backed stablecoins are beginning to reach ordinary users. The inflection point is not years away, it is here.”
Globally, Katz points to the US formalising stablecoin issuance, which he says is pushing significant capital and confidence into the ecosystem, much of which ultimately flows into emerging markets.
Merchants still have their concerns
Despite the rapid growth, many merchants remain hesitant to offer crypto. Katz says this is because, behind the headlines, it may still feel like a risk they don’t fully control.
“They worry about price volatility between payment and settlement, are unsure who really carries that risk, and fear messy reconciliation if funds don’t arrive predictably in local currency. Regulation and compliance add to the anxiety, because even as rules mature, business owners are unclear whether they or the provider sit in the regulators’ sights,” he shares.
Perception poses another major challenge and Katz admits that crypto may still look technically complex and operationally heavy to non‑specialists, with many believing there is limited customer demand because shoppers rarely ask to pay this way.
“Taken together, those concerns make sticking with familiar card and bank rails feel safer than experimenting with a system they don’t yet completely trust,” he says.
But when it comes to moving money, such as transfers between the crypto world and the gaming world, or even between the crypto world and wallets, stablecoin and crypto rails outperform when it comes to speed and cost, adding to the rapidly growing attraction.
“Crypto isn’t only being used for day‑to‑day spending at the checkout, but increasingly for behind‑the‑scenes money movement and value transfers between platforms and systems, for example moving funds from crypto ecosystems into gaming platforms or digital wallets. With the right crypto gateway and on‑ramp infrastructure, these value flows can be embedded directly into existing payment and settlement journeys,” he says.
Jonathan Katz, co-founder and COO, however, says that while many merchants may still be in a normalising stage, the layer above them is exceptionally active.
“Payment service providers, platforms, wallet companies, gaming operators and other enterprises see the next wave of payments coming and are now actively looking for crypto partners. Large e‑commerce platforms, for example, are already evaluating providers. Meanwhile, many high-end brands that have started accepting crypto are quietly chipping away at the stigma, making it feel less like a fringe experiment and more like a logical next step,” he explains.
Addressing challenges to drive merchant uptake
According to the co-founders, three key offerings can go a long way to overcoming lingering concerns.
Firstly, by choosing a provider that locks in a fixed rand (or any fiat) amount at quote, hedges the volatility in the background and settles T+1 into the merchant’s bank account, merchants no longer have to fear price swings and messy reconciliation.
Secondly, a wallet‑agnostic design means customers can pay from almost any wallet or exchange worldwide, which tackles both the “is there real demand?” question and the frustration of solutions that only work for a narrow set of local users. This is especially important for merchants who deal with international customers and transactions in the luxury retail, tourism, gaming, and hospitality sectors.
Finally, choosing a solution that offers an omnichannel, direct‑to‑merchant integration, with the compliance and crypto complexity handled in the background, finance and operations teams can treat crypto and stablecoin sales much like any other card or bank payment, without needing to become crypto specialists themselves.
“If viewed holistically, waiting may carry more strategic risk than moving early with the right partner. The regulatory fog is lifting, customer familiarity with crypto is set to accelerate, and the sectors that move first are likely to normalise crypto payments capturing significant brand and revenue gains. The debate for African merchants has now shifted from an ‘if’ to a ‘when’ question,” Jonathan Katz says.
