USD Coin ($USDC) is a stablecoin pegged to the value of the United States Dollar providing a secure and transparent digital representation of fiat currency.
Jointly maintained by Circle and Coinbase, two leading entities in the cryptocurrency space, $USDC ensures stability through regular audits with each token backed by an equivalent reserve of US dollars.
Built on blockchain technology, $USDC is programmable and compatible with smart contracts, facilitating its integration into various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
CIRCLE | 2023@circle launched USDC in 2018, and it has since grown into one of the most liquid and widely held digital currencies in the world.
Each day, roughly $4 billion in $USDC changes hands. Nearly 2 million people in more than 190 countries hold USDC in digital… pic.twitter.com/tQ375wi4f6
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) December 16, 2023
Its primary applications include serving as a stable means for:
- Cross-border payments
- Enabling cost-effective and swift transactions, and
- A reliable bridge between traditional finance and the emerging digital asset landscape
Circle and Coinbase envision a future where stablecoins are used by innovators to increase interoperability between the diverse financial systems across Africa.
According to Circle, below is a list of African fintechs spearheading the usage of $USDC across the African continent:
1.) AZA Finance
AZA Finance (formerly BitPesa) was the first company on the African continent to offer a bridge between digital and fiat currencies with its original ‘BitPesa’ product. In addition to using it in its own treasury operations, AZA Finance offers USDC liquidity to its customer base of African businesses.
2.) Yellow Card
YellowCard is crypto fintech powerhouse with a presence in 17 African countries. YellowCard makes it possible to send $USDC and other digital currencies across Africa for free and access a wide range of digital currency services.
3.) FonBnk
FonBnk is a global marketplace for turning mobile minutes into digital money, FonBnk makes it possible to swap airtime to $USDC within its app or directly from a web browser.
4.) Chipper Cash
With more than 5 million registered users, Chipper Cash is one of the largest consumer-facing fintechs on the continent. The company enables Africans to send money without the friction and fees inherent in legacy payment systems. Chipper Cash leverages $USDC to optimize and reduce the cost of cross-border settlements as well as merchant settlements across its partner networks.
5.) Scalex
Digital currency utility can only be maximized through strong connections to the banking system. Scalex makes it easy for African users to convert back-and-forth from bank funds to digital currency within minutes, and offers easy access to $USDC for people across Africa.
6.) ClickPesa Debt Fund
The fund, managed by payment platform ClickPesa, provides financial support to micro, small, and medium businesses in Africa. It helps to overcome the credit gap by providing USDC-based credit facilities through microfinance institutions
7.) OnAfriq (MFS Africa)
A leading African digital payments gateway, OnAfriq (formerly MFS Africa) improves financial access by connecting hundreds of millions of people to the global digital economy. Their network spans 500 million mobile money wallets and 200 million bank accounts across 40 countries. OnAfriq is using USDC to drive real world use cases of digital money to further their mission of making borders matter less.
Besides the above companies, players like the Mara Foundation are mentioned as partnering with Circle to advance Web3 education and $USDC adoption.
Flutterwave is also expected to soon launch $USDC payment settlements in a partnership with the Hedera blockchain.
Since it moves directly across the internet, instead of using legacy financial rails, $USDC can enable nearly-instant, nearly-free transactions denominated in the world’s most widely used currency, the US Dollar.
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