INTERVIEW: Why is Africa Becoming the World’s Biggest Stablecoin Testing Ground?

In this exclusive interview with Impact Newswire, Bitget Wallet chief operating officer Alvin Kan believes stablecoin adoption in Africa is being driven less by speculation and more by structural weaknesses in traditional finance, including volatile local currencies, high remittance fees, and fragmented cross-border payment systems. The shift, he says, reflects a behavioural change in which digital dollars such as USDC and USDT are now held for everyday financial activity rather than trading, particularly in economies facing currency depreciation and limited access to dollar liquidity. 

Africa is becoming one of the most important test case for stablecoins, not because of speculation or trading activity, but because of everyday financial pressure.

Across several African markets, stablecoin usage has moved beyond niche crypto communities into mainstream financial behaviour. Industry estimates cited by multiple blockchain analytics firms show that ownership rates in countries such as Nigeria and South Africa have reached as high as 79%, placing the region among the highest globally for stablecoin exposure and usage. While methodologies differ, the consistent signal across surveys and on-chain data is that Africa’s adoption curve is being driven less by investment demand and more by practical use cases such as payments and savings.

In economies where local currencies have experienced recurring depreciation pressures, dollar-pegged stablecoins are increasingly functioning as informal stores of value. They are also being used to move money across borders more cheaply than traditional remittance channels, which in many African corridors still carry average fees of 6% to 9% according to World Bank estimates. That cost gap has made stablecoins a practical workaround for freelancers, traders, small businesses and diaspora workers sending money home.

The use case is shifting from trading to utility. Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC are being held in digital wallets for everyday transactions, from paying suppliers to preserving savings in dollar terms. In several markets, they are also being used as an alternative settlement layer where access to foreign currency through banks is restricted or delayed.

This transition is now beginning to intersect with traditional payment infrastructure.

Bitget Wallet has announced the expansion of its crypto card across Africa, allowing users to spend stablecoins globally with zero foreign exchange fees. The USD-denominated card, powered by Mastercard via Immersve, enables users to spend directly from a self-custodial wallet at hundreds of millions of merchants worldwide. “Africa has long been one of the most dynamic regions for real-world crypto adoption,” Jerome Faury, CEO of Immersve, told Impact Newswire. “By connecting self-custody wallets like Bitget Wallet to Mastercard’s global payment infrastructure, we’re enabling users to spend digital assets globally while maintaining the flexibility and control that Web3 users expect.”

USDC is converted to fiat at the point of sale, allowing users to make everyday purchases such as groceries, travel and subscriptions without manually converting assets in advance.

Users can apply digitally and add the virtual card to mobile wallets within minutes, making it usable both online and in physical stores.

The development reflects a broader shift in how stablecoins are being positioned in Africa’s financial system. Rather than remaining within crypto exchanges, they are increasingly being embedded into payment rails that mirror traditional banking functionality. This effectively turns digital dollars into a spendable instrument at global scale.

For Africa, the significance lies in infrastructure rather than speculation. Stablecoins are not replacing national currencies, but they are increasingly filling gaps where inflation, currency volatility and cross-border friction reduce the efficiency of existing systems.

Tech Editor Faustine Ngila spoke to Bitget Wallet COO Alvin Kan. Here is the interview, edited for clarity.

1. Africa is already one of the highest stablecoin adoption regions globally. What structural gaps in the traditional financial system are driving this demand?

Stablecoin demand in Africa is rooted in practical financial gaps: volatile local currencies, high remittance costs, limited access to dollar-denominated savings, and fragmented cross-border payment rails. For many users, stablecoins provide a way to preserve value, move money 24/7, and access global commerce when traditional infrastructure is slow, costly, or unevenly available. This is why adoption in the region is increasingly utility-led, with stablecoins functioning as tools for savings, payments, and cross-border access.

2. Stablecoins are increasingly used for savings and payments, not just trading. How does Bitget Wallet see this shift reshaping everyday financial behaviour in African markets?

We see stablecoins becoming a working balance for everyday finance. In African markets, users are increasingly holding stablecoins to save, receive income, send funds, and spend, which shifts the wallet’s role from a crypto access point to a financial interface. The broader change is behavioral: crypto is moving from occasional market activity to repeated financial use, where users check balances, make transfers, pay for goods, and convert only when needed. In markets shaped by currency volatility and payment friction, that utility can be more important than speculative upside.

3. The new crypto card converts USDC into fiat at point of sale. Why is this “on-the-spot conversion” model important for mainstream adoption?

On-the-spot conversion addresses the core mismatch between crypto users and today’s merchant economy: users may prefer to hold stablecoins, while merchants still need fiat settlement. By converting USDC into fiat at checkout, the card allows both sides to operate in the currency format they already understand. This removes much of the operational friction from crypto spending and makes stablecoins usable through familiar card rails for groceries, travel, subscriptions, and daily purchases.

4. Zero FX fees are a key selling point. How does Bitget Wallet sustain this model economically, and what trade-offs, if any, exist behind the scenes?

The zero-fee model works because it is structured within certain limits. We remove top-up, FX, and conversion fees within a defined monthly allowance, helping users avoid around 2% in embedded costs typical of traditional cards and making everyday spending more predictable. Cashback also becomes the primary user-facing value driver. In our South Africa launch, for example, users can earn 8% cashback on high-frequency categories like grocery and dining, capped at $200 per month.

From a business perspective, payments are not designed to be the profit center. Card economics are structurally thin, and stablecoins compress margins even further, so the role of the card is closer to distribution: a way to bring users into everyday crypto usage. The economics are supported by the broader wallet ecosystem, where higher-value onchain activities such as trading and staking generate revenue. In that sense, the card is the entry point, while value is created across the wider financial stack.

5. Self-custodial wallets give users full control of their assets, but also full responsibility. How do you balance accessibility with security and user education?

Self-custody shifts the model from platform-controlled protection to user-controlled responsibility, which introduces new risks at the interaction layer. In practice, most security incidents are not caused by protocol failures but by user actions such as signing malicious transactions, approving harmful contracts, or falling for phishing. This reframes security as a user experience problem: the priority is helping users make safer decisions at the point of action. 

At Bitget Wallet, we address this through layered design: simplifying access with social login and hardware-backed key management, increasing risk visibility through clearer signing flows, transaction simulation, and real-time warnings, and embedding education directly into the product journey. The objective is to preserve self-custody while reducing cognitive burden, so safer behavior becomes the default.

6. Remittances remain a major pain point in Africa. Can stablecoin-linked cards realistically compete with or replace traditional remittance rails over time?

Stablecoin-linked cards can improve only a small part of remittances: making received value immediately spendable. Stablecoins allow value to move 24/7, while cards let users spend without a separate cash-out step, reducing friction from intermediaries, FX spreads, and settlement delays. Cards alone will not replace the full remittance stack, because users still need local bank transfers, mobile money, bill payments, and cash-out options. That is why Bitget Wallet has built a global model in our crypto payment product stack, with stablecoins providing the global settlement layer, while cards provide global spending capabilities and local rails provide last-mile access, including bank transfer functionality in markets such as Nigeria.

7. Regulatory uncertainty remains a major issue across African markets. How are you navigating compliance while scaling a borderless payment product?

Borderless finance should be a better user experience, not a shortcut around regulation. Bitget Wallet is self-custodial, so it operates as a technology interface that allows users to maintain full control of their own assets. When products touch fiat conversion, card issuance, settlement, or payment infrastructure, we work with compliant partners and follow local compliance requirements. Africa is not one regulatory market, so availability, KYC, transaction monitoring, and eligibility rules have to be managed jurisdiction by jurisdiction. The objective is to keep the user experience simple while maintaining a responsible operating model.

8. Looking ahead, do you see stablecoin-powered cards becoming a bridge toward full crypto-native financial systems, or will they remain an on-ramp to traditional finance?

In the near term, stablecoin-powered cards are a bridge between stablecoin balances and the existing merchant economy, which still largely settles in fiat. Over time, they become one interface within a broader onchain financial system, where users hold stablecoins, receive income, make payments, access savings, and move funds through wallets. The likely future is hybrid: traditional rails will continue to provide acceptance, compliance, and last-mile reach, while stablecoins and self-custodial wallets become the financial layer users interact with directly. Stablecoin cards are not the end state, but they are one of the most practical steps toward it.

Stay ahead of the stories shaping our world. Subscribe to Impact Newswire for timely, curated insights on global tech, business, and innovation all in one place.

Dive deeper into the future with the Cause Effect 4.0 Podcast, where we explore the ideas, trends, and technologies driving the global AI conversation.

Got a story to share? Pitch it to us at info@impactnews-wire.com and reach the right audience worldwide