Businesses operating across African markets are increasingly exploring cryptocurrency payment infrastructure as an additional way to receive cross-border payments and settle the proceeds in local currencies.

The interest comes amid persistent challenges surrounding the cost of international transfers, access to foreign exchange and the time required to complete transactions through conventional banking channels.

According to the World Bank’s September 2025 Remittance Prices Worldwide report, the global average cost of sending remittances stood at 6.36 per cent in the third quarter of 2025.

Sub-Saharan Africa remained the most expensive region to send money to, recording an average cost of 8.46 per cent. Banks were the most expensive service providers, with an average cost of 14.99 per cent.

Against this backdrop, stablecoins and other digital assets are increasingly being considered as settlement instruments rather than solely for trading or investment.

Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis estimated that Sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in on-chain value between July 2024 and June 2025, representing an increase of approximately 52 per cent from the preceding year.

Although the region remained the smallest cryptocurrency economy covered by the company’s global analysis, Chainalysis said transaction patterns pointed to increasing retail and business usage.

The company also observed regular high-value stablecoin transfers associated with trade, energy and merchant payments between Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It said some of the institutional activity recorded in Nigeria and South Africa was likely connected to a growing business-to-business sector facilitating cross-border payments.

Stablecoins emerge as a cross-border payment channel

The growth has been particularly visible in Nigeria.

In a June 2026 analysis published by the International Monetary Fund, economists Axel Schimmelpfennig and Bo Zhao estimated that Nigeria received approximately $59 billion in crypto-asset inflows between July 2023 and June 2024.

They also reported that Nigeria accounted for roughly 60 per cent of stablecoin inflows into Sub-Saharan Africa since 2019.

The economists described stablecoins as having developed into a meaningful cross-border payment channel for Nigerian households and small businesses.

Stablecoins are digital assets designed to maintain a relatively stable value, commonly by being linked to currencies such as the United States dollar. They can allow users to receive remittances or make cross-border payments before converting the assets into local currency.

For businesses, crypto payment infrastructure providers can manage the technical processes involved, including wallet generation, blockchain confirmations, conversion and settlement through supported banking or payment channels.

One of the companies providing this service is Breet, a cryptocurrency payment platform operated by Inbreetic Technologies Limited.

The company began with a consumer-focused service for converting cryptocurrency into local currency and has since expanded its infrastructure for use by businesses and financial technology platforms.

Breet’s application programming interface allows businesses to receive supported cryptocurrencies, convert them and settle the corresponding value in local currency without requiring the businesses to develop the underlying blockchain and conversion infrastructure themselves.

Kayode Faturoti, co-founder of Breet, said cross-border payment speed and access to foreign currency were among the reasons businesses were considering crypto-based payment options.

“A merchant in Lagos can now get paid by a customer or partner anywhere in the world without waiting days on a wire transfer or sourcing dollars through a bank,” Faturoti said.

He added that the technology was not necessarily intended to replace existing domestic payment systems.

“Local payment systems are effective within their own markets,” he said. “Crypto provides an additional rail when money needs to cross borders or when the sender already holds digital assets.”

How fintechs use third-party infrastructure for stablecoin payments

Financial technology companies may choose to work with specialist infrastructure providers rather than independently develop cryptocurrency wallets, conversion systems and blockchain-monitoring processes.

Breet identifies Nigerian fintech company Cardtonic as one of the businesses using its infrastructure.

According to a case study published by Breet, Cardtonic integrated the company’s API to enable users to fund virtual dollar cards directly with USDT and USDC. The case study states that the integration moved from Breet’s testing environment to production within two days.

The availability of Cardtonic’s stablecoin-funding feature was also announced in a FinanceWire release syndicated by TradingView. The release states that direct USDT and USDC funding was introduced in April 2026, allowing users to load supported virtual dollar cards without first converting their assets through another platform.

Breet’s case study attributes the underlying wallet, blockchain-confirmation, conversion and settlement processes to its API and includes comments from Cardtonic CEO Emmanuel Sohe about the integration.

Faturoti said Breet’s infrastructure handles the wallet, confirmation, conversion and settlement processes when a user funds a supported product with stablecoins.

“Instead of building the entire crypto payment process internally, a business can connect to an existing infrastructure provider and focus on its own product and customers,” he said.

Breet reports that it works with multiple payment partners and banking channels. The company also says it has processed more than $1 billion across over five million transactions.

Users cite speed while raising support concerns

Public customer reviews provide some indication of how individual users experience Breet’s consumer service, although they do not independently establish the company’s transaction volumes, security or wider market position.

As of July 2026, Breet’s Trustpilot profile showed a rating of 4.8 out of five from 196 reviews. Ninety-two per cent of the reviews were rated five stars, while two per cent were rated one star.

Trustpilot’s summary of the reviews identified frequently mentioned themes including the speed of converting cryptocurrency, withdrawals into local bank accounts and the application’s ease of use.

However, some reviewers also reported difficulties accessing assistance through the company’s in-app support channel.

Trustpilot states that reviews represent the opinions of individual users and may not reflect the experiences of all customers. The platform also notes that it does not independently verify every factual claim contained in a customer review.

Benefits accompanied by regulatory risks

The increasing use of stablecoins also presents regulatory and economic concerns.

In their IMF analysis, Schimmelpfennig and Zhao said that faster and potentially cheaper cross-border payments could support trade, remittances and financial inclusion.

However, they warned that widespread reliance on dollar-denominated stablecoins could reduce demand for local currencies and weaken the transmission of domestic monetary policy.

They also identified concerns relating to financial integrity, transaction monitoring, consumer protection and the ability of regulators to measure cross-border financial flows accurately.

Rather than attempting to suppress stablecoin usage completely, the economists recommended stronger regulatory oversight, improved transaction data and continued investment in faster and more interoperable conventional payment systems.

The adoption of crypto payment infrastructure by African businesses will therefore depend on more than transaction speed.

Providers will also need to maintain reliable liquidity, comply with applicable financial regulations, manage banking and payment partnerships and demonstrate that local-currency settlements can be completed consistently.

For businesses, the appeal lies in having an additional option for receiving international payments. For infrastructure providers such as Breet, the opportunity lies in managing the technical and settlement processes required to convert digital assets into currencies that businesses can use within their local markets.