The collaboration creates a bi-directional payment bridge. Crossmint will integrate Paga Engine’s local fiat on- and off-ramps to extend its global enterprise payout network into Africa. In parallel, Paga is building on Crossmint’s infrastructure to deploy next-generation stablecoin wallets for consumers and agents.

Through Crossmint, Paga is adopting smart contract wallets that operate natively on-chain—enabling programmable controls such as spending limits and multi-party approvals enforced by the blockchain itself. The result: bank-grade security and genuine asset autonomy, with an experience so seamless that the underlying blockchain is invisible to the end user.

“Paga has always been about building the rails for the future of money, and that future is multi-blockchain and multi-stablecoin,” said Tayo Oviosu, founder and Group CEO of Paga Group. “By combining Paga’s local financial rails with Crossmint’s programmable wallet infrastructure, we are connecting the African economy to global finance, eliminating the tax of friction, preserving wealth, and giving African consumers and businesses the financial mobility they deserve.”

“I once lived in Surulere, in the heart of Lagos, so this partnership means a lot to me. The people I knew there worked hard for their money, yet moving it across borders was slow and expensive,” said Rodri Fernández Touza, Co-founder, Crossmint. “Crossmint builds the stablecoin and wallet infrastructure behind Paga’s digital dollars, cards, and U.S. accounts, putting instant global payments into the hands of millions of Nigerians.”

The partnership delivers value across the ecosystem:

For multinationals and enterprises using Crossmint: instant access to Paga’s fiat on- and off-ramp network across Africa, enabling local payment acceptance and global settlement in the stablecoin of their choice.

For African builders and developers: a unified, chain-agnostic API suite to deploy compliant, stablecoin-native financial products at scale—without managing blockchain complexity.

For everyday users: a simple, secure experience that puts them in full control of their digital assets.

Paga Group processed over $11 billion in payments and facilitated 169 million transactions in 2025. Crossmint natively supports more than 50 blockchains, including Sui, Solana, Ethereum, Polygon, and Stellar, aligning with Paga’s deliberate, multi-chain ecosystem strategy.

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.

 In this interview, he shares how AI, mobile-first design, and deep local insight are powering scalable fintech and clean energy solutions and why Africa is poised to shape the future of global innovation.

How does AI improve transaction speed, security, and reliability on Nearpays?

AI is a game-changer for us in boosting transaction speed, security, and reliability. On speed, AI-driven predictive analytics help us optimize transaction routing, reducing processing times and making payments near-instant for our users. For security, AI-powered fraud detection kicks in big time – we’re talking real-time risk assessment, anomaly detection, and stopping suspicious transactions before they happen.

This means our users transact with confidence, knowing their money is safer.

On reliability, AI helps us anticipate and prevent downtime. Our systems learn from transaction patterns, flagging potential issues before they impact users.

This translates to higher uptime and smoother experiences for our 60,000+ SME users. Plus, AI-driven insights help us enhance our softPOS platform, making it more intuitive and adaptive to merchants’ needs. Bottom line: AI isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s core to how we deliver fast, secure, reliable payments

What technical challenges come with running payments purely on smartphones?

Running payments purely on smartphones throws up challenges like ensuring robust security on diverse devices, managing connectivity in areas with spotty networks, and optimizing for low-end phones common in our markets.

Then there’s balancing simplicity with feature-richness – our users range from tech-savvy merchants to first-time digital adopters. We tackle these by baking in layers of security like biometric auth and tokenization, building offline capabilities, and keeping our UI super intuitive. It’s about making payments work seamlessly, no matter the phone.

How do Nearpays and Yourrider share technology or data insights?

Our companies share a symbiotic tech relationship that drives efficiency and innovation. We leverage Nearpays’ payment infrastructure to power transactions for Yourrider’s logistics and delivery services – think merchants processing payments via softPOS and riders getting paid seamlessly for deliveries.

This integration boosts cash flow for riders and offers Nearpays deeper insights into merchant needs.

Data insights flow both ways. Yourrider’s logistics data helps Nearpays tailor financial products for SMEs in specific industries, like offering instant payouts to merchants based on delivery success rates.

It’s a win-win: Yourrider optimizes logistics with payment data, and Nearpays enhances financial services with rider and merchant insights.

In what ways can payment technology solve logistics and mobility problems?

Payment tech can revolutionize logistics and mobility by making transactions seamless, instant, and data-driven. In logistics, digital payments enable frictionless payouts to drivers/riders, automate invoice settlements, and track transactions in real-time.

This boosts cash flow, reduces admin hassles, and optimizes route planning with payment-linked data insights.

For mobility, integrating payments into transport apps (like tolls, parking, or ride-hailing) creates one-tap experiences for users and operators.

In Africa’s emerging markets, mobile-centric payment solutions help logistics players scale efficiently, manage risks, and expand services. By embedding payments into the journey, we unlock efficiency gains across the mobility ecosystem.

How do you design systems that work in low-connectivity environments?

For low connectivity environments, we’re building design systems that prioritize offline-first capabilities – think transactions that work offline and sync seamlessly when connection returns. We’re leveraging local data caching, PWA tech, and optimizing UIs to work with intermittent internet.

The goal? Payments happen smoothly whether you’re in Lagos traffic or rural Nigeria. We’re also testing mesh networks and SMS fallbacks to keep things moving.

What does scaling across African markets demand from your tech stack?

Scaling across African markets demands extreme agility and local relevance. We’ve built a flexible tech stack that adapts to diverse regulatory landscapes, payment preferences (mobile money, cards, bank transfers), and connectivity realities. Our softPOS is a hit because it works on basic smartphones – meeting users where they are.

To scale, we’re doubling down on local partnerships, hiring local experts, and iterating products with country-specific feedback loops. It’s about solving payments in ways that click locally, whether in Nairobi, Lagos, or Dakar.

How do you think about cybersecurity as adoption grows?

Cybersecurity is top-of-mind as we scale. With growth comes increased risk, so we’re doubling down on layered defenses – think AI-driven fraud detection, biometric auth, and tokenization for sensitive data.

Our partnership with Cybersource is a big boost; their global expertise in payment security complements our local know-how. Together, we’re baking in robust security as we expand, protecting our users and their transactions. It’s about building trust, fast.

What role can African startups play in the global fintech ecosystem?

I firmly believe African startups can absolutely play in the global fintech ecosystem – and we’re proving it. With tech talent, innovative solutions, and a huge underserved market, African fintechs bring unique value. Our softPOS tech, for instance, solves real problems for merchants here and has potential elsewhere. The key is solving local challenges exceptionally well, then scaling smartly.

Global partnerships are a big enabler. Collaborations with international players like Cybersource give us access to tech, expertise, and networks. But it’s not just about plugging into the global ecosystem – African fintechs need to lead with solutions that work locally, then expand. With the right blend of innovation, partnerships, and execution, African startups can go big globally.

How do you see Africa’s fintech market evolving over the next decade?

I see Africa’s fintech market evolving explosively over the next decade, driven by mobile penetration, regulatory maturity, and innovative solutions. We’ll see massive growth in digital payments, Buy Now Pay Later services, and embedded finance – think payments integrated into everyday apps and platforms. The rise of super-apps and decentralised finance (DeFi) will further accelerate financial inclusion.

Regulatory clarity will boost cross-border payments, stablecoin adoption, and partnerships between telcos, banks, and fintechs. AI-driven credit scoring will unlock financial inclusion for millions. Sustainability and compliance will become key differentiators. Africa’s fintechs will lead globally, exporting solutions and attracting international investment. It’s an exciting time.

Through this partnership, Visa and Yellow Card will collaborate to explore stablecoin use cases and opportunities to help streamline treasury operations, enhance liquidity management, and enable faster, more cost-effective money movement across borders.

“Traditional payment companies continue to question not ‘if’ they need a stablecoin strategy, but how quickly they can deploy one,” said Chris Maurice, co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card. “We are thrilled to partner with Visa to help realize the potential of stablecoins technology in emerging economies.”

Godfrey Sullivan, senior vice president and head of Product and Solution for CEMEA, Visa, said,

“We’re excited to team up with Yellow Card to enable faster and more accessible digital payments. We believe that every institution that moves money will need a stablecoin strategy. As more players in the payments ecosystem explore this powerful new technology, Visa stands ready to help our partners navigate the transformation, bringing the scale, trust and innovation needed to help build the next generation of global payments.”

Yellow Card operates in 20+ African countries and provides access to secure, compliant, and accessible stablecoin products for consumers, businesses, and developers.

This partnership further cements Yellow Card’s role as a critical financial gateway and infrastructure provider in emerging markets.

Starting as a mobile money switch, Onafriq has transformed into a full omnichannel payments network. It facilitates cross-border disbursements, collections, card issuance and processing, offline agent banking services, and FX & treasury services.

At its core, Onafriq is providing digital interoperability across mobile wallets, bank accounts, cards, and offline payment channels – bringing Africa closer to a seamless and integrated financial future.

“We remain fully committed to connecting every individual and business in Africa with each other and the world,” said Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of Onafriq. “Fifteen years ago, we set out with a bold ambition: to connect Africa’s mobile money systems and make borders matter less. What we’ve built since then is more than a network – it’s a pan-African infrastructure layer that has evolved in lockstep with the continent’s digital evolution. From mobile money to bank accounts, from remittances to real-time trade – we’ve grown as Africa has grown. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved and even more excited about the road ahead.”

From Mobile Wallet Interoperability to Omnichannel Infrastructure

Over the past 15 years, Onafriq has progressed from simply connecting mobile wallet schemes to a comprehensive interoperability layer for African finance, supporting various use cases from peer-to-peer transfers and merchant collections to card issuance, agency banking, and remittances.

Today, Onafriq’s network connects:

• 961 million registered mobile wallets
• 464 million registered bank accounts
• More than 2,000 cross-border payment corridors

This robust infrastructure has facilitated access and usage across the continent, enabling everyone from rural beneficiaries of social payments to global fintechs operating in Africa.

Looking Ahead

As Onafriq embarks on its next chapter, the company aims to develop a network with greater local relevance while maintaining the scale of its pan-African infrastructure.

“We are increasingly focused on creating infrastructure with local depth,” said Okoudjou. “A prime example is Nigeria, where we are developing a unique payments stack that combines the strength of our cross-border network with the regulatory and foreign exchange realities of one of Africa’s most dynamic economies. By building infrastructure that reflects local context, we can enable more relevant use cases – moving beyond large numbers of registered mobile money wallets to foster an ecosystem where usage is active, sustained, and impactful.”

“With our relentless focus on building the foremost pan-African cross-border payment network, we continue to invest in creating infrastructure with local depth,” said Okoudjou. “A prime example is Nigeria, where we are developing a unique payments stack that combines the strength of our cross-border network with the regulatory and foreign exchange realities of one of Africa’s most dynamic economies. By building infrastructure that reflects local context, we can enable more relevant use cases to foster an ecosystem where usage is active, sustained, and impactful.”

Onafriq is also exploring blockchain infrastructure and stablecoin integrations to facilitate near-instant, programmable payments – a crucial step towards real-time, interoperable trade across African currencies.

These innovations align with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and are designed to help Africa bypass outdated payment systems in favour of a modern, mobile-first financial ecosystem.

With extensive experience, wide reach, and a proven execution track record, Onafriq remains dedicated to building a payment infrastructure that unlocks prosperity – both across borders and within local communities.

While the Africa Stablecoin Consortium (ASC), the token’s developer, has initiated discussions with Roqqu and Yellow Card, neither platform has committed to listing it.

Despite cNGN’s approval under Nigeria’s SEC Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP) and its availability on Busha and Quidax, its wider adoption hinges on securing listings on platforms with a pan-African reach. Without that, the stablecoin’s use in remittances and cross-border transactions is still not certain.

Jason Marshall, chief operating officer of Yellow Card, acknowledged ASC’s regulatory approval but stressed that listing decisions require more than compliance. “We have a lot of respect for any project that has been admitted to Nigeria’s SEC Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP); we take it seriously,” he said. However, he noted that Yellow Card is selective, with a focus on demand, financial reserves, and compliance.

“Before we would consider a coin most times, they would have raised the equivalent of ₦50 billion ($32.5 million) in capital reserves and have an accounting firm sign a document saying it validates those reserves,” Marshall explained. “We would expect them to be well-capitalised to back the coin.”

The main challenge for cNGN isn’t just getting listed, but proving that users actually want it. In Nigeria, digital transactions via traditional banking channels are already fast and cheap. This makes some exchanges sceptical about the stablecoin’s domestic relevance. 

“For domestic use cases within Nigeria, I’m not sure because the Naira is already digital,” Marshall admitted. “The Nigerian bank transfer system is very advanced; transfers are instant and low-cost, but we’re open-minded to domestic use cases—we’re just unsure as of yet.”

Roqqu’s CEO, Eseoghene Onomor, also confirmed talks with ASC but noted the same concerns. “These things take time,” he said. “It’s not enough to list a coin or token on your platform. It has to be something that people want. Not everyone is seeing the value of the cNGN right now, because adoption is low, but I see its value.”

This brings a catch-22 for ASC: without exchange listings, cNGN’s adoption will be slow, however, exchanges want evidence of demand before listing it. 

While the stablecoin’s likelihood to enable seamless swaps between African currencies exists, its immediate viability is still questioned Unless it gains stronger institutional backing or a clear market need emerges, Nigeria’s first compliant stablecoin could remain on the sidelines of Africa’s crypto economy.

The financing round, which includes both equity and debt, was co-led by Polymorphic Capital with participation from other investors, including Octerra Capital, Faculty Group, and Trive Digital.

The funding will enable the company to expand its operations into Latin America and Southeast Asia, regions facing similar liquidity issues.

MANSA focuses on improving cash flow for payment providers by offering real-time liquidity solutions. Instead of traditional lending methods that require collateral, the company underwrites loans using transaction data, providing a more flexible and efficient approach.

“Our partnership with Tether is so consequential and why we’re working very closely together to make it the primary stablecoin in emerging markets,” said MANSA’s CEO, Mouloukou Sanoh.

Founded by Sanoh and Nkiru Uwaje, MANSA has quickly grown in the payments sector. Sanoh, an experienced investor in African fintechs, previously worked at web3 VC firm Adaverse, while Uwaje was formerly an innovation manager at SWIFT and led blockchain strategy for Dell in the UK and Ireland.

The startup’s model is particularly relevant in emerging markets where payment providers often struggle with liquidity shortages, leading to delayed transactions and increased costs. 

According to MANSA, cross-border payments are projected to reach $290.2 trillion annually by 2030, and inefficiencies in the system could result in huge financial losses for businesses.

Beyond Africa, where MANSA has been primarily active, the company is now targeting Latin America and Southeast Asia, aiming to provide the same liquidity solutions to businesses facing similar challenges. 

To support this expansion, it has secured $7 million in liquidity funding from institutions, including corporate investors, quantitative funds, and hedge funds.

MANSA reports strong growth since its launch in August 2024. The company’s transaction volume surged from $1.6 million in its first month to $11 million in January 2025, with a compounded monthly growth rate of 37.5%.

So far, MANSA has processed nearly $31 million in transactions and expects to reach a $1 billion total payment volume run rate this year.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the stablecoin provider is “proud to collaborate with MANSA and support their efforts to reshape global payment infrastructure.”

In addition to its liquidity solutions, MANSA is investing in regulatory compliance. The company has brought on industry veterans, including the former head of HSBC North Asia and the chief legal officer of Franklin Templeton, to strengthen its oversight. 

MANSA’s compliance measures include AML checks, sanction screening, KYC, KYB, transaction monitoring, and blockchain analytics tools.

Moving forward, the company plans to expand beyond liquidity provision. “We’re starting by being the primary liquidity provider to the biggest payment companies across emerging markets,” Sanoh explained.

“From there, we can handle payouts and also offer additional services like foreign exchange. The goal is to create a one-stop payment platform where they can finance their payments, settle transactions instantly, and access foreign currency seamlessly—all in one place.”

With a growing client base that includes B2B payment platforms, virtual card providers, stablecoin infrastructure companies, forex platforms, and remittance firms, MANSA’s impact on the global payments landscape is expected to deepen.

The company claims that clients using its solutions have already seen a 30% increase in transaction volumes and a 10% boost in revenue.

Vitaly Spassky, managing partner, Polymorphic Capital, said Mansa is here to disrupt a massive traditional market with blockchain and the Web3 paradigm. “Polymorphic supports extraordinary founders. The Mansa team is up to this incredible challenge.”

Ashim Egunjobi, managing partner, Octerra Capital, also stated: “We invested in MANSA because of their bold, diverse, high-calibre team of visionary founders addressing critical challenges faced by payments companies in Emerging Markets. We firmly believe that decentralized finance and asset tokenization are game-changing frontier technologies. With immense market potential in emerging economies, MANSA is uniquely positioned to drive transformative impact and bridge the credit gap across Africa.”

“We are incredibly excited to have been the first investor in Mansa. Our decision to invest was driven primarily by our strong confidence in the leadership team, and we are certain they will continue to validate our belief. Additionally, we are thrilled about the future of crypto payments and Mansa’s potential to make transactions in emerging markets faster, cheaper, and more efficient,” Sebastian Cheek, head of Investment, Faculty Group

Shawn Tan, general partner, TRIVE Digital, commented that MANSA addresses a fundamental liquidity challenge in cross-border payments, leveraging stablecoins to create more efficient and accessible financial rails. “TRIVE Digital backs visionary founders building the future of Web3, and we are excited to support the MANSA team as they drive transformative impact in the global payments industry.”

Through the integration with Busha’s neo-banking platform, the partnership seeks to deliver secure and accessible financial growth opportunities, targeting one of the world’s most dynamic emerging markets.

Driving Financial Innovation in Africa’s Largest Economy

Busha has firmly established itself as a leader in Nigeria’s digital finance ecosystem, with over 7 million trades and $3.5 billion in transactions processed. 

Doubling its volumes every year and achieving profitability, Busha powers local payment rails for global businesses like Starlink and is backed by renowned investors, including Jump Capital, DCG, and CMT Digital.

This partnership is an important one for Plume Network as it collaborates with a key player in Africa’s largest economy to provide the fruits of decentralized finance to non-crypto-native users.

Introducing Plume Nest on Busha

Nest is Plume Network’s flagship yield platform, designed to provide secure, scalable, and competitive returns powered by on-chain technologies. With this partnership, Plume is enabling Busha’s users to unlock DeFi-powered earnings without requiring specialized knowledge or experience.

The integrated Earn product will allow users to:

• Access competitive, transparent yields on their stablecoins and digital assets.
• Leverage the security of on-chain technology for peace of mind and accountability.
• Seamlessly earn and grow wealth directly within Busha’s trusted app interface.

A Shared Vision for Financial Inclusion

Emerging markets like Nigeria often lead the way in adopting disruptive technologies such as blockchain because they stand to benefit the most from transformative innovation. 

In regions where access to institutional-grade investment products is far more constrained than in developed markets like the US and Europe, the need for inclusive financial solutions is paramount.

“At Plume, our focus is on building connections between the global decentralized finance ecosystem and local markets where it can create the greatest impact,” said Chris Yin, CEO of Plume Network. 

“Our partnership with Busha embodies this vision, enabling us to provide millions across Africa with transparent, secure, and growth-oriented financial tools that open new doors for economic empowerment.”

Commenting on the FSCA’s decision to issue the licence to Yellow Card Financial South Africa, Chris Maurice, Yellow Card’s co-founder and CEO, said,

“The CASP licence underscores Yellow Card’s commitment to its customers in South Africa and regulatory compliance across the continent. This achievement reflects our dedication to providing secure, compliant and transformative solutions for our customers both in South Africa and across Africa”.

Stablecoin adoption is surging throughout Africa, with sub-Saharan Africa having the highest adoption rate in the world at 9.2%.

In South Africa alone, where the number of total users of crypto assets is estimated to amount to 5.8 million people, stablecoins have experienced growth of 50% month over month since October 2023, displacing bitcoin as the country’s most popular cryptocurrency.

Yellow Card is excited to play a pivotal role in this financial revolution in South Africa.

Yellow Card, which launched in South Africa in 2020, has facilitated over US$3 billion in transactions in the last several years and now operates in 20 countries across the continent.

The company recently completed a US$33 million Series C financing, led by Blockchain Capital and existing investors, including Polychain Capital, Valar Ventures, Third Prime Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Block, Inc. (Square/Cash App), reflecting strong investor confidence in its mission.

As the stablecoin landscape continues to evolve, Yellow Card is committed to leading the charge in making digital assets accessible and secure for businesses across Africa.

With the recent licensing and funding, the company plans to expand its B2B offerings by enhancing its stablecoin rails, upgrading infrastructure, and advancing its B2B API and Widget.

These efforts will empower businesses with seamless solutions for liquidity management and their general operations.

This latest investment round, led by Blockchain Capital, brings the total equity raised by the company to $85 million. 

The funds will be channelled into expanding Yellow Card’s operations, focusing on growth across the continent, and enhancing its technological products, particularly its API and widget offerings. 

These tools are designed to enable both African businesses and international companies to seamlessly access the continent’s financial markets.

Since its inception in Nigeria in 2019, Yellow Card has made a name for itself by facilitating over $3 billion in transactions, spanning 20 African countries. The company, which initially targeted retail customers, is now shifting its focus towards supporting businesses. 

According to CEO Chris Maurice, the strategic pivot comes from recognising the higher transaction volumes and more stable revenue streams offered by businesses. This has been seen in the company’s operational model and messaging, with an emphasis on treasury management and international payments using stablecoins.

This funding round included contributions from several notable investors, including Polychain Capital, Block Inc., and Winklevoss Capital, reinforcing confidence in Yellow Card’s business model. 

Blockchain Capital’s General Partner, Aleks Larsen, noted that the company’s ability to integrate fast and affordable payment rails using open networks makes it a key player in Africa’s financial infrastructure. 

With stablecoins playing an important part in safeguarding against currency volatility and inflation, Yellow Card aims to broaden its reach and enhance its offerings to meet the needs of businesses across the continent.

The increasing adoption of stablecoins in Africa, driven by their practical utility for international payments and cross-border trade, has allowed Yellow Card to flourish despite challenges in the global crypto market. 

With more African businesses turning to stablecoins for financial management, the company expects its transaction volumes to continue growing, building on the strong momentum generated by its expanding business customer base.

Yellow Card plans to continue engaging with regulators across Africa, aiming to strengthen a clear and supportive regulatory environment.