Africa’s fintech unicorn, Flutterwave, a payments technology company, has secured an undisclosed investment from Circle Ventures to accelerate its adoption of USDC as a settlement option for businesses across Africa.
This was disclosed by Olugbenga Agboola, co-founder and chief executive officer of Flutterwave, in a post published on the company’s website on Tuesday, July 7.
The investment comes exactly three weeks after the payments technology firm announced that Ripple, the leading provider of blockchain-based enterprise solutions for traditional and digital finance, participated in Flutterwave’s Series E fundraising, which valued the company at $3.2 billion.
Stablecoins gain traction as a payment and settlement tool
Stablecoins, a category of cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a steady value by being pegged 1:1 to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar, are becoming increasingly popular for payments and cross-border transactions.
With a combined market capitalisation of $294.47 billion, according to Forbes, stablecoins—including USDT, USDC and USDS—have become a major force in digital finance. According to payments giant Visa, stablecoin transaction volume surged 63 percent year-on-year to a record $1.79 trillion in June 2026.
“June 2026 was another record month for stablecoin transaction volume, just ahead of February 2026,” said Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale, on Sunday.
In February, stablecoin transaction volume reached $1.78 trillion, representing a 125 percent increase from the corresponding period a year earlier.
Flutterwave, which has spent the past decade building Africa’s payments infrastructure, is betting on the growing use of stablecoins for cross-border settlements, alongside the rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies by African consumers and businesses.
“By integrating USDC settlement directly into Flutterwave, businesses can collect payments locally and settle in USDC when it makes sense for their operations.
This reduces settlement delays, extends payments beyond traditional banking hours and provides additional flexibility for treasury management and cross-border transactions.”
Flutterwave said the integration will allow businesses already operating with USDC to access African markets through its platform, while firms using Ripple’s RLUSD will benefit from the same infrastructure for enterprise-grade settlements and seamless cross-border payment experiences.
Also Check: Why fraud and payment barriers are limiting the real use of crypto in Nigeria
The investment also comes as Nigerian regulators are developing clearer policies to better regulate the cryptocurrency sector after years of regulatory uncertainty and crackdowns.
On July 3, TechMedia Africa reported that Nigeria granted seven cryptocurrency and digital asset companies conditional approval to test and operate their services under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulatory Incubation Programme.
The newly admitted firms are Bitbarter Technologies Limited, Luno Fintech Nigeria Limited, GetEquity Limited, Koinkoin Global Network Limited, Wrapped CBDC Ltd, Trovotech Ltd, and Blockvault Custodian Ltd.
Flutterwave said it believes the future of payments will not rely on a single payment rail or digital asset but on infrastructure that combines fiat payments, cards, mobile money, bank transfers, stablecoins and blockchain networks, giving businesses greater flexibility in how they move money across borders.