Fintech infrastructure for stablecoin payments in emerging markets
August 26 at 09:17 · $0.108 total
Sourcing list: Stablecoin payment infrastructure for emerging markets
- Kotani Pay — API layer connecting stablecoins to mobile money (M-Pesa, etc.) in Africa, enabling off-ramps without smartphones or bank accounts. Fits: genuinely early (seed, ~$2M raised), rare mobile-money/USSD angle, live in Kenya, Ghana, Zambia.
- Juicyway — Cross-border payments and stablecoin liquidity infrastructure for African businesses. Fits: emerged from stealth in late 2024 with ~$3M pre-seed, had quietly processed >$1B in volume before announcing — strong traction-to-visibility ratio.
- Waza — B2B payments and liquidity platform using stablecoins to settle trade payments for African importers. Fits: YC-backed, seed stage, attacking the FX/dollar-liquidity bottleneck rather than consumer remittance.
- Cedar Money — Stablecoin-powered cross-border payments for businesses in frontier markets (Nigeria focus). Fits: raised ~$9.9M seed (Jan 2025), pitches fiat UX with stablecoin rails underneath — clean infrastructure thesis.
- Mural Pay — API and platform for businesses to pay contractors/vendors in LatAm via stablecoins with local-currency payout. Fits: early stage, riding the LatAm B2B payouts wave; less known than Bitso/Airtm.
- Fonbnk — Converts prepaid airtime and mobile-money balances into stablecoins, acting as an on-ramp for the unbanked in Africa. Fits: unusual wedge (airtime as an asset), early revenue, partnerships with telco distribution networks.
- Manteca — Argentina-based crypto/stablecoin infrastructure API for fintechs and businesses (on/off-ramps, cross-border settlement). Fits: seed stage, strong product-market fit in a high-inflation economy where stablecoin demand is organic.
- Koywe — On/off-ramp and stablecoin payments API for LatAm (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru). Fits: early, developer-first, aggregating fragmented local payment rails behind one API.
- Blindpay — API for global stablecoin payins/payouts targeting LatAm corridors. Fits: very early (pre-seed/seed), lean team, positions as "Stripe for stablecoin payouts" — high beta but on-thesis.
- Accrue (formerly Cashramp) — Stablecoin-based payment infrastructure and agent network for cross-border payments across Africa. Fits: YC-backed, seed stage, novel P2P agent-liquidity model that solves the local-currency settlement problem.
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White-space gaps noticed:
- Stablecoin treasury & FX hedging middleware for EM corporates — Most players do payments/ramps; almost no one offers infrastructure for EM businesses to hold, hedge, and manage working capital across stablecoins and volatile local currencies (a "Kyriba for stablecoins").
- Compliance/licensing-in-a-box for stablecoin operators in frontier markets — Every company above rebuilds KYC, travel-rule, and local regulatory scaffolding per country. A shared compliance and licensing layer for Africa/LatAm stablecoin corridors is conspicuously absent and would sell to the entire list above.
Note: this space moves fast — verify current stage, licensing status, and any pivots/acquisitions during diligence.
Here are 10 early-to-mid-stage companies building fintech infrastructure for stablecoin payments in emerging markets (EMs), focusing on high-signal, lesser-known players over the industry giants.
1. Kotani Pay — API infrastructure enabling stablecoin-to-fiat off-ramping via USSD and mobile money for unbanked users in Africa. Why it fits: It bridges Web3 directly to local EM rails (like M-Pesa) without requiring smartphones, showing strong Seed-stage traction in B2B2C remittance and gig-worker payout corridors.
2. Canza Finance — B2B decentralized FX network using stablecoins to bypass dollar shortages and facilitate cross-border trade for African SMEs. Why it fits: Highly specific EM infrastructure solving a massive pain point (intra-African FX liquidity), backed by strong signal from Polychain and Distributed Global.
3. Koywe — B2B API providing localized fiat payment methods for stablecoin on/off-ramping across Latin America. Why it fits: Acts as a critical, early-stage "Plaid for crypto" in LatAm, quietly powering local exchanges and wallets by aggregating highly fragmented local banking integrations.
4. Mural — API and treasury platform allowing global brands to deploy B2B stablecoin payouts and payroll to contractors in EMs. Why it fits: A strong Seed-stage infrastructure play backed by Galaxy and DCG, solving the massive friction and high fees of cross-border contractor payouts.
5. Fonbnk — Distributed protocol allowing users in mobile-first EMs to convert prepaid mobile SIM airtime into stablecoins. Why it fits: A highly innovative, Seed-stage on-ramp that bypasses traditional banking entirely, unlocking stablecoin liquidity for the unbanked; backed by Kraken Ventures.
6. Ping — B2B and freelancer neobank offering US accounts and automated stablecoin routing/off-ramps for Latin American workers. Why it fits: YC-backed (S22) with strong organic traction among remote workers and local agencies using stablecoins as a backend to hedge against local currency devaluation.
7. Num Finance — Issuer of local-currency stablecoins (e.g., nARS, nPEN) collateralized by crypto to offer yield and enterprise credit in LatAm. Why it fits: Builds the actual local-fiat stablecoin primitives (beyond just USD) required for seamless B2B payments and lending in hyperinflationary markets.
8. Poko — B2B infrastructure offering fiat on-ramps and direct checkout solutions for Web3 wallets across emerging Asian and LatAm markets. Why it fits: YC-backed infrastructure focused on aggregating fragmented local payment rails (like UPI in India or PIX in Brazil) into a single stablecoin API for developers.
9. DolarApp — SME and consumer financial app providing local-fiat-to-USDC routing for card payments and cross-border transfers in LatAm. Why it fits: A Series A company (backed by Kaszek and YC) that successfully abstracts the stablecoin layer entirely, showing high signal for mainstream EM merchant and consumer adoption.
10. Paychant — Cryptocurrency payment gateway allowing African merchants to accept stablecoins and settle instantly in local fiat bank accounts. Why it fits: An early-stage, pure-play merchant acquiring infrastructure directly addressing the high fees and settlement delays of traditional African payment gateways.
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2 Most Interesting White-Space Gaps
- Stablecoin-Native Trade Finance & Factoring: While there are many startups using stablecoins for cross-border FX and payroll, there is a massive gap in using stablecoin liquidity pools to finance supply chains or factor invoices for EM SMEs. EM merchants often wait 30–90 days for cross-border invoices to clear; stablecoin-backed factoring protocols could offer instant USD-equivalent liquidity.
- Localized AML/Compliance Orchestration for Mobile Money: As stablecoins integrate deeper with EM telecom rails (like USSD and mobile money), global compliance tools (like Chainalysis) struggle with the localized, low-ticket, high-volume nature of these transactions. There is a need for "Chainalysis-lite" compliance APIs built specifically to monitor the intersection of stablecoins and African/Asian mobile money networks to keep local regulators happy.