Stablecoin Era: African Fintechs Return to the Drawing Board (MB#4)
Ten years ago, Yellow Card, now Africa’s biggest crypto startup, launched as a retail exchange. It grew to over 1 million users across 20 countries, backed by $57 Million in funding.
Then something shocking happened;
Nine years later, 2024 - 2025, within a single year, Yellow Card raised another $33 Million, not to expand its retail exchange, but to shut it down and double down entirely on B2B stablecoin payments.
Think about that: a decade old company, with millions of users and $88 Million raised, walked away from its core business to chase a new, fast-growing segment many would still call “hype.”
There is a saying: What an elder sees while seated, a youth can’t see even when standing.
Yellow Card has seen a decade of Africa’s crypto reality and they are now betting everything on stablecoins.
What are stablecoin payments?
A new global payment system built on blockchain; money that moves faster, cheaper, and more reliably than traditional rails. Most stablecoins track the value of the US dollar.
In 2024, they processed:
$27 trillion in transaction volume
1.25 billion transactions
More than Visa and Mastercard combined.
It is no surprise that Stripe acquired the stablecoin payments startup Bridge for $1 Billion ~ 1.5% of Tanzania’s GDP.
Why Africa? Why now?
Stablecoins behave like digital dollars and that solves real African problems:
Dollar shortages → stablecoins become alternatives
High fees → stablecoins are 10x cheaper
Slow settlement → stablecoins settle instantly
This is why global stablecoin infrastructure companies like Conduit are expanding into Africa and why stablecoin issuers like Tether have also invested in African stablecoin fintechs like Mansa. The use case is stronger here than anywhere else.
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What are African fintechs doing with stablecoins?
Until recently, most regulated fintechs avoided anything “crypto.”
That era is ending fast.
A few weeks ago, Flutterwave, Africa’s most valued and licensed fintech, unveiled its stablecoin strategy through a partnership with Polygon.
Once the biggest, most regulated fintech goes stablecoins, the conversation shifts from:
“Crypto is risky” to “You’re out of context if you don’t have a stablecoin plan.”
Across the continent:
Kredete (processed $1B) - raised $22M and launched a stablecoin product.
Raenest (700K users, $1B processed) expanded to the US with a stablecoin product.
Umba hit profitability and announced stablecoin payments as its next chapter.
A new pattern is forming:
Almost every African fintech announcing funding or expansion now pairs it with a stablecoin launch.
Who will dominate Africa’s stablecoin wave?
This is the big question.
Stephen, a VC backing fintechs like Nala, made an important point: most African stablecoin startups lack any cypherpunk DNA; the resilience and hardening mindset early crypto builders had. Because of that, they’re not seeing this regulatory grey zone for what it is: a temporary window to build aggressively before rules arrive.
A few African markets like South Africa offer Crypto licenses, and Ghana and Kenya are discussing bills, but for most countries nothing concrete exists yet.
It is right to believe that once regulation lands, the race will shift from speed to compliance capability; from “move fast” to “Who can operate at scale, inside the rules?”
A Return To The Drawing Board
African Fintechs of all sizes are now moving into stablecoin payments; a shift that’s taking everyone back to the drawing board. It’s a focus test, an adaptability test, and possibly the chance to build a new monopoly.
What do you think the future of stablecoin payments in Africa looks like? Share your thoughts in the comments.