Mambo 👋
A lot can happen in a year.
Over the past 365 days, Africa has seen over 365 stablecoin announcements. Some were real things being built. Some were positioning. Some were companies trying not to be left behind.
But beyond the headlines, what has actually changed?
The Stablecoin Song Is Now Being Sung by Non Stablecoin Companies
A year ago, most stablecoin conversations came from crypto companies.
Today, some of the loudest signals are coming from traditional fintechs.
Flutterwave raised its Series E from Ripple and now has six stablecoin partnerships. Paga has multiple stablecoin partners. MoneyGram launched MGUSD to power its global network.
These were not stablecoin companies a year ago.
They were doing what traditional fintechs have always done: moving money.
Now stablecoins are becoming part of the infrastructure underneath.
Stablecoins Are Becoming Invisible
Last year everyone wanted to issue a stablecoin.
Companies wanted their own stablecoin. Founders wanted their own stablecoin. Every pitch deck seemed to have a stablecoin somewhere.
But today;
Most Africans do not wake up thinking about USDC or USDT. Regulators are still trying to understand the technology. Teaching millions of people a new financial behavior takes time.
So the industry adjusted.
Instead of asking users to touch stablecoins, many companies are trying to make them work behind the scenes.
A customer sends money. A customer receives money.
Stablecoins move the value in between.
The technology remains.
The visibility disappears.
Traditional Financial Companies Look Less Vulnerable
One year ago, the story was simple:
Stablecoins will disrupt banks.
Today that story looks incomplete.
If a bank moves from traditional settlement rails to stablecoin rails, the customer relationship does not disappear.
The account remains the same. The app remains the same. The customer remains the same.
Only the technology moving the money changes.
That means banks, Visa, Mastercard, and existing fintechs may not be disrupted by stablecoins unless they choose to ignore them.
That is why Stripe acquiring Bridge mattered.
It showed that big financial companies are not just waiting to be disrupted. They are preparing to participate.
Now everyone is watching what companies like Paystack will do next, especially after Stripe made its stablecoin move.
Distribution Became the Real Advantage
A year ago, many people thought the winners would be stablecoin issuers and crypto exchanges.
Today, distribution looks more important.
Stablecoin infrastructure is becoming easier to build.
Distribution is not.
Chimoney showed that clearly.
The company had many things stablecoin startups are now chasing: payment infrastructure, Techstars backing, and a Canadian MSB license.
But when announcing the shutdown, the founder shared that the product worked, but distribution was the bigger challenge.
The lesson is becoming clearer.
Technology can move money.
Distribution moves adoption.
Stablecoins Did Not Kill Prefunding
A year ago, one of the biggest promises was that stablecoins would remove the need to prefund money across countries.
The reality became more interesting.
Stablecoins did not kill prefunding.
They changed who prefunds and where the money sits.
Someone still needs to provide liquidity. Someone still needs to make sure money is available when customers want to move it.
Nala raising $50 million in debt to prefund stablecoin payments showed that clearly.
Even with better rails, capital still matters.
The questions changed.
Who has access to cheaper dollars?
Who controls liquidity?
Who can support volumes at scale?
The conversation moved from only technology to capital.
Even the Leaders Changed Their Minds
Many founders who once viewed stablecoins as just another crypto thing are now using them at scale.
Not because they suddenly became crypto believers.
Because the economics started making sense.
Faster settlement.
Better liquidity management.
New cross border opportunities.
Lower operational costs.
The conversation moved from ideology to utility.
So What Has Really Changed?
The biggest change is not the technology.
The biggest change is who is talking about it.
Stablecoins are no longer only discussed by crypto companies.
They are now discussed by banks, fintechs, regulators, payment companies, and global networks.
The technology did not change much.
The audience did.
And maybe one more small thing changed 😅
A year ago, even finding all these stablecoin movements happening across Africa in one place was not easy.
Now there is a newsletter dedicated only to documenting Africa’s stablecoin economy.
Because if stablecoins are becoming part of Africa’s financial infrastructure, someone has to keep the records.
That is why Stablekoin exists.
Written from inside Africa with love 🇹🇿💚
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