Cryptocurrencies, particularly stablecoins, will rapidly move from early experimentation to mainstream for African merchants over the next two to three years. As the regulatory fog clears, customer familiarity with stablecoins will accelerate as banks and major platforms adopt them and normalize crypto payments.
From July 2024 to June 2025, cryptocurrency activity in sub-Saharan Africa recorded a 52% year-on-year increase, with on-chain value exceeding $205 billion, ranking it the third fastest-growing cryptocurrency market in the world.
Of this, South Africa accounted for an estimated $35-40 billion, driven by strong stablecoin usage and significantly increased participation by institutional investors.
Stablecoins currently account for over 45% of the total cryptocurrency volume in the region. This is primarily due to their role in addressing cross-border trade and merchant payments challenges. Not only does it provide storage and transfer of dollar value without the volatility associated with Bitcoin or Ethereum, but it also avoids the frictions and costs inherent in traditional foreign exchange channels.
Report | According to Quidax, stablecoins now account for 43% of all crypto transactions in sub-Saharan Africa
Regulatory clarity further accelerated growth. Developments such as the CASP license in South Africa, the enactment of the VASP law in Kenya, and the formalization of the oversight framework by the SEC in Nigeria are contributing to improved trust across the ecosystem.
“Adoption will take a big hit this year and the curve will be exponential rather than gradual,” said Daniel Katz, co-founder and CEO of South African crypto and stablecoin payments infrastructure company Ezeebit.
“Fortunately, the time lag between regulations being developed and their impact being felt is finally narrowing. At the same time, banks and payment providers are actively building tokenization and stablecoin projects, and rand-backed stablecoins are beginning to reach ordinary users. The inflection point is here, not years away.”
Globally, Katz points to the United States formalizing the issuance of stablecoins, a move that he believes is injecting significant capital and confidence into the ecosystem, much of which will eventually flow into emerging markets.
Press Release | FSCA-regulated infrastructure startup Ezeebit raises $2 million seed to expand stablecoin and cryptocurrency payments infrastructure across Africa
Vendors remain concerned
Despite rapid expansion, many merchants remain cautious about accepting cryptocurrency payments.
Katz explains that beyond the optimistic headlines, it may feel like a risk that is not yet fully under control.
“They worry about price fluctuations between payments and settlement, are unsure who is actually bearing the risk, and fear the hassle of reconciling if funds don’t arrive as expected in their local currency.
Regulation and compliance add to the anxiety. “This is because even as the rules mature, business owners are unsure whether they or their providers will be in the regulator’s sights,” he says.
Awareness is also a big hurdle. To non-experts, cryptography can seem technically complex and operationally heavy. Additionally, many merchants assume that customer demand is limited, as shoppers rarely request payment in cryptocurrencies.
“Taken together, these concerns make it feel safer to stick with the cards and bank rails you’re familiar with rather than trying a system you don’t fully trust yet,” Katz added.
But when it comes to moving money, such as transferring money between crypto platforms and gaming ecosystems, or between crypto platforms and digital wallets, stablecoins and crypto rails often outperform traditional systems in both speed and cost, making them even more attractive.
“Cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used not only for day-to-day spending at the register, but also for behind-the-scenes transfers of funds and value between platforms and systems, such as moving funds from a cryptocurrency ecosystem to a gaming platform or digital wallet.
With the right crypto gateways and on-ramp infrastructure, these value streams can be integrated directly into existing payment and settlement processes,” he explains.
Jonathan Katz, co-founder and chief operating officer, notes that while many merchants are still in the “normalization” phase, the ecosystem layer above is very active.
“Payment service providers, platforms, wallet companies, game operators and other businesses believe the next wave of payments is coming and are actively seeking cryptocurrency partners. For example, major e-commerce platforms are already evaluating providers.
“On the other hand, many high-end brands that have begun to embrace cryptocurrencies are quietly shedding the stigma, making this feel more like a logical next step than just an experiment,” he says.
Shopify launches early access to USDC stablecoin payments on Base
Addressing challenges to increase merchant adoption
According to the co-founders, three key factors can significantly alleviate any lingering concerns.
First, choosing a provider that locks in a fixed rand (or other fiat currency) amount at the time of quotation, hedges volatility in the background, and settles T+1 into the merchant’s bank account eliminates concerns about price fluctuations and adjustment issues. Second, the wallet-agnostic design allows customers to pay from almost any wallet or exchange in the world. This solves the problem of real demand and avoids the limitations of solutions limited to a limited number of local users. This is especially important for sellers serving international customers in the luxury retail, tourism, gaming, and hospitality sectors. Finally, by adopting omnichannel direct seller integration, where compliance and crypto complexities are managed behind the scenes, finance and operations teams can process crypto and stablecoin transactions just like traditional card and bank payments, without the need for in-house crypto expertise.
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“Overall, there may be more strategic risk in waiting than in acting early with the right partners. The regulatory fog is clearing, customer familiarity with cryptocurrencies is set to accelerate, and sectors that move first are likely to normalize crypto payments while gaining meaningful brand and revenue growth.”
“For African traders, the debate is now shifting from a question of ‘if’ to a question of ‘when’,” says Jonathan Katz.
Press Release | Scan to Pay enables direct crypto payments to over 650,000 merchants in South Africa through MoneyBadger integration
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About egbit
Ezeebit is a South African FSCA-regulated cryptocurrency payments infrastructure company (FSP and CASP number 53664) that enables merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments through instant stablecoin payments and local fiat payments.
The service, which has been operating since 2023, was founded by brothers Daniel, Jonathan and David Katz, who identified first-hand how traditional payment systems were failing African merchants. Ezeebit was built from the ground up to address real seller challenges through a compliance-first infrastructure.
The company currently serves brick-and-mortar and online sellers across South Africa and plans to expand into the broader African market.
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