Similar scenes played out simultaneously across 18 cities in four African countries—from Nairobi’s tech hubs to Accra’s bustling business districts.

This synchronized celebration marked the continent’s largest coordinated cryptocurrency event: Bitcoin Pizza Day Fest.

“Most people focus on what those Bitcoins would be worth today—over $1 billion,” says Obinna Iwuno, founder of Crypto Bootcamp Community (CBC), the organization behind the continental festival. “But they miss the revolutionary act itself—the moment cryptocurrency transformed from theoretical concept to practical currency.”

Iwuno, a former image developer who discovered Bitcoin in 2016, has built what Bloomberg Intelligence analysts now recognize as Africa’s most expansive grassroots crypto education network.

In just four years, CBC’s Bitcoin Pizza Day initiative has expanded from a modest gathering in Lagos to a synchronized festival spanning 16 countries, with both Francophone and Anglophone participation.

Reframing a Crypto Legend

Bitcoin Pizza Day commemorates May 22, 2010, when programmer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoin—then worth about $41—for two Papa John’s pizzas. What seemed unremarkable at the time is now cryptocurrency folklore: those bitcoins would be worth over a billion dollars today.

“The narrative had become distorted,” Iwuno explains during a video call from CBC’s Lagos headquarters. “People called Hanyecz foolish, but without that transaction, would Bitcoin have evolved from a programmer’s experiment to a global asset class? Someone needed to be first.”

This perspective informs CBC’s approach. Rather than focusing on speculation and price movements, their events emphasize Bitcoin’s utility, history, and practical applications.

Since 2022, CBC has organized over 80 Bitcoin Pizza Day events across 15 African countries, reaching more than 50,000 participants.

“We don’t sell get-rich-quick schemes,” says Iwuno. “We’re building infrastructure for a continent where 57% of adults remain unbanked, where remittance costs average 8.9%, and where currency devaluations are routine political risks.”

Measuring Real Impact

The metrics behind CBC’s work reveal substantial influence. The organization has directly onboarded over 20,000 Africans into the cryptocurrency ecosystem through their events.

More significantly, their educational initiatives have catalyzed the formation of independent Bitcoin clubs, circular economies, and entrepreneurial ventures across the continent.

“We track three outcomes,” explains Iwuno. “First, everyday citizens acquiring their first bitcoin. Second, local businesses accepting cryptocurrency payments. Third, developers building Africa-focused blockchain solutions.”

This approach has attracted corporate partners including Tether, Yellow Card, Quidax, and Roqqu, who see CBC’s community-first strategy as key to sustainable adoption in African markets.

Prolific Crypto Marketer Caleb Nnamani notes:

“What distinguishes CBC’s approach is their focus on use cases relevant to local economic conditions—cross-border payments, remittances, and inflation hedging—rather than speculative trading.”

Building Pan-African Infrastructure

CBC’s ambitions extend beyond annual celebrations. The organization has developed an infrastructure plan targeting all 54 African countries, with a goal of onboarding 10 million Africans into the Bitcoin economy by 2030.

“We’re creating an interconnected network of knowledgeable communities,” says Iwuno. “When regulatory frameworks mature or institutional adoption accelerates, these communities will form the backbone of Africa’s cryptocurrency ecosystem.”

This vision positions CBC at the intersection of two powerful trends: Africa’s demographic dividend (with 60% of the population under 25) and cryptocurrency’s promise of financial inclusion. The continent’s high mobile penetration rates—exceeding 80% in key markets—provide the technological foundation for this vision.

“Africa doesn’t need to replicate Western financial infrastructure,” Iwuno argues. “We can leapfrog directly to decentralized systems built on open protocols.”

A Global Movement with African Characteristics

What began as a commemorative event has evolved into something more significant: a uniquely African expression of global cryptocurrency culture.

CBC’s Pizza Day festivities incorporate local music, art, and cuisine while maintaining the universal symbolism of Bitcoin’s first real-world transaction.

This cultural adaptation has proven contagious. Since CBC’s first coordinated event in 2022, Bitcoin Pizza Day celebrations have proliferated across Africa, with competing organizations and companies now marking the occasion on their annual calendars.

“We’ve ignited something that’s bigger than us,” reflects Iwuno. “That’s how movements begin—someone takes a familiar story and recontextualizes it for new circumstances.”

For a continent often relegated to the periphery of financial innovation, CBC’s work represents something profound: ownership of a global narrative and its adaptation to local conditions.

As Iwuno prepares for this year’s expanded Bitcoin Pizza Day Fest, his ambitions have already outgrown the annual celebration.

“When every African village has a Bitcoin circular economy,” he says, “we’ll have accomplished our mission. The pizza story is just the beginning.”

Iwuno has expressed desire for more partnerships and collaborations. He can be contacted here.

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.”

Tether has announced the discontinuation of support for the Kusama, Bitcoin Cash SLP, and Omni Layer implementations as part of their commitment toward maintaining a robust blockchain ecosystem for USD₮ and all other tokens they issue.

Tether said the ‘strategic transition aims at ‘meeting community demands and foster innovation’.

Paolo Ardoino, the CTO, also explained the reason for this via a tweet on the X platform, and he can be quoted as saying: 

“Today #Tether announces the ending of the support of 3 blockchains $USDt: OmniLayer, BCH-SLP and Kusama.

Customers will be able to continue to redeem and swap $USDt tokens (to another of the many supported blockchains), but Tether won’t issue any new additional $USDt on those 3 blockchains.

Continuing Ardoino said: “This decision pains our hearths especially in reguards to the Omni Layer, Tether $USDt initial transport layer back in 2014. Over the years, the Omni Layer faced challenges due to the lack of popular tokens and the availability of $USDt on other blockchains.

This led many exchanges to favor alternative transport layers, leading to a decline in $USDt usage on #Bitcoin using the Omni Layer.

A key factor in deciding to bring USD₮ to a specific blockchain is the level of community interest.

Tether said they carefully evaluate the effort required, encompassing security, customer support, compliance, and regulatory oversight, to ensure the security, usability, and sustainability of the chosen blockchain.

If a blockchain lacks significant traction over an extended period and shows no signs of recovery in usage indicators, maintaining support becomes inefficient and may jeopardize security and oversight.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Tether will embark on a strategic transition, discontinuing support for the Kusama, Bitcoin Cash SLP and Omni Layer implementations. 

“Yet we want to emphasize that Tether’s team is rooted in the belief of leveraging the most secure, audited, and decentralized blockchain ever built: #Bitcoin”, a statement by Tether reads.

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The two-month collaboration focused on raising awareness, providing education and driving adoption of USD₮, Tether’s stablecoin, among students and young professionals in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.

Activities included Financial Literacy Tours in universities and a canvassing campaign which involved Yellow Cards Brand Ambassadors engaging with individuals across major cities in the three countries.

Over 10,000 young people were reached – including students drawn from the six universities where the Financial Literacy Tour events were held among them University of Nairobi in Kenya, University of Benin in Nigeria and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.

Those who attended the events received insights into the mechanics of stablecoins, gained a deeper understanding of the blockchain technology and also learned about the importance of responsible financial decision-making.

In addition, they each received their first USD₮ on the Yellow Card platform.

“Our collaboration with Tether has provided us with a remarkable opportunity to witness the profound impact that financial education has on the youth. This collaboration aligns seamlessly with our overarching mission to promote financial freedom for all, which encompasses our other initiatives like the Financial Literacy Tourand the YC Academy. As crypto adoption grows in Africa so does the need for financial education,” said Peter Mureu, Director of Marketing at Yellow Card.

Between 2021 and 2022, cryptocurrency adoption in Africa surged by 1200%, necessitating a rapid increase in education. Despite the potential for cryptocurrencies to play a vital role in the future, there remains considerable hesitancy among companies and individuals to embrace this emerging currency.

This reluctance can be attributed to a widespread lack of awareness and understanding of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

The Yellow Card and Tether collaboration aims to play a pivotal role in bridging this knowledge gap.

Stablecoins, such as USD₮, address unique challenges in Africa by offering practical solutions. Given the substantial remittances African countries receive from the diaspora populations working abroad, Tether provides a convenient and cost-effective method for cross-border payments, reducing reliance on traditional channels with high fees and delays.

Moreover, USD₮ empowers gig economy workers to receive fast and secure payments instantly across borders, bypassing intermediaries like banks or payment processors.

“We recognize Africa as a pivotal player in the cryptocurrency and stablecoin market,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether. “The continent has demonstrated remarkable potential for growth and innovation in the digital currency space. Africa’s increasing cryptocurrency adoption and the demand for stablecoins highlight the need for accessible and efficient financial solutions. Tether is committed to addressing the unique challenges faced by African communities through our collaboration with Yellow Card. Our stablecoin, USD₮, provides practical solutions for cross-border payments and empowers individuals, including gig economy workers, to receive fast and secure transactions, bypassing traditional intermediaries.”

Tether officially began working with BDO Italia, the Italian member firm of BDO global organization, the top five ranked global independent public accounting firm, in July 2022 for its quarterly attestations.

With this alignment, Tether will also focus on moving towards releasing its attestations from a quarterly basis to monthly reports.

Tether is committed to not only lead in innovative technology, but also in transparency and accountability to its customers who use stablecoins to make tens of billions of dollars in trades every day.

The decision to work with the BDO organization represents its promise to deliver considerable transparency for those holding Tether tokens, providing updates about issued tokens and reserves on a daily basis, supplemented by monthly assurance opinions.

This new relationship aligns with Tether’s dedication to transparency and is the next step in the company’s path toward a complete audit.

“We are committed to serving the fast-growing cryptocurrency market as the strongest stable asset in the Web3 economy,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether. “The utility of Tether has grown beyond being just a tool for quickly moving in and out of trading positions, and therefore it is mission-critical for us to scale alongside the peer-to-peer and payments markets. Tether’s commitment to transparency is not something new. It aligns with its leadership’s responsibility as a market leader to educate the world about stablecoin technology.”

BDO’s global organization, extends across 167 countries and territories, with more than 97,000 people working out of 1,713 offices. It is the fifth largest public accounting organization firm in terms of revenue, just slightly behind the Big Four.

According to its recent revenue report dated 30 September 2021. The fee income of all BDO firms worldwide, including the members of their exclusive alliance, was US$11.8 billion.

Initial blockchain support will include Ethereum, TechEconomy.ng can report.

GBP₮ will join four other fiat-currency pegged tokens Tether has in the market: the U.S. dollar-pegged USD₮, the Euro-pegged EUR₮, the offshore Chinese Yuan-pegged CNH₮, as well as the recently launched MXN₮, the Mexican Peso-pegged stablecoin.

In April of this year, The UK Treasury announced plans to make the country a global crypto hub. According to its website, the government will also make moves to see stablecoins recognized as a valid form of payment.

This initiative, paired with hundreds of millions of people using crypto around the world, makes the United Kingdom a prime location for the next wave of industry innovation.

GBP₮ will be a stable digital asset that is pegged 1:1 to the British Pound Sterling. GBP₮ will be built by the trusted team of developers behind Tether USD₮ and operate under tether.to. The creation of GBP₮ will put British Pounds on the blockchain and provide a faster, less costly option for asset transfers.

“We believe that the United Kingdom is the next frontier for blockchain innovation and the wider implementation of cryptocurrency for financial markets. We hope to help lead this innovation by providing cryptocurrency users worldwide with access to a GBP-denominated stablecoin issued by the largest stablecoin issuer,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether. “Tether is ready and willing to work with UK regulators to make this goal a reality and looks forward to the continued adoption of Tether stablecoins”.

The launch of GBP₮ represents Tether’s dedication to pioneering stablecoin technology and bringing the largest and most liquid stablecoins to global markets everywhere. GBP₮ will reinforce GBP as one of the most dominant currencies across the globe and introduce an FX opportunity for USD₮ and EUR₮. It will also act as an on-ramp to the decentralized finance ecosystem.

Tether is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization and a champion for financial freedom. Created in October 2014, Tether has grown to become the most traded cryptocurrency and is widely used globally to bank the unbanked.

Tether is disrupting the legacy financial system by offering a more modern approach to money.

By introducing fiat currency-digital cash to the bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni, Tron, Algorand, and Solana blockchains, Tether makes a significant contribution to a more connected ecosystem.

Tether combines digital currency benefits, such as instant global transactions, with traditional currency benefits, such as price stability.

With a commitment to transparency and compliance, Tether is a fast and low-cost way to transact with money.