Africa stablecoin payments are beginning to evolve from cross-border transfers and digital-dollar savings toward merchant spending through card networks. Stablecoin-linked cards allow users to fund purchases from digital-asset balances while merchants continue receiving payments through familiar card infrastructure. RedotPay says Africa has the second-highest adoption and growth potential after Latin America, although it has not published an Africa-specific dollar spending figure. Visa already supports more than 130 stablecoin-linked card programmes in over 50 countries, while its Bridge partnership plans expansion to more than 100 markets across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East by year-end 2026. For investors, this could expand the addressable market for stablecoin issuers, fintechs and card networks while increasing competition with banks, remittance firms and foreign-exchange providers.
Key Overview
- July card spending topped $1bn, according to Paymentscan data cited by RedotPay.
- RedotPay forecasts $50bn by 2028 in annual global stablecoin-card spending. This is a company forecast, not an independent consensus projection.
- RedotPay says Africa ranks second in growth potential behind Latin America.
- Cumulative stablecoin card spending passed $10.9bn, according to Paymentscan data cited by RedotPay.
- Visa operates 130-plus card programs linked to stablecoin wallets across more than 50 countries.
- IMF research says Nigeria received $59bn crypto inflows between July 2023 and June 2024, with stablecoins accounting for more than 65% of cross-border crypto inflows in 2024.
Stablecoins Are Moving From Transfer to Spend
Stablecoins became relevant across many African markets because they solved several problems before they solved retail payments.
They provided access to dollar-linked value, enabled cross-border transfers outside traditional banking hours and offered another way for businesses to settle international obligations.
Cards add another layer.
Instead of converting stablecoins manually before making a purchase, a user can connect a digital balance to familiar card-payment infrastructure. RedotPay, for example, offers stablecoin-based physical and virtual cards designed for shopping, subscriptions, travel and ATM use.
Visa similarly describes stablecoin-linked cards as programmes overlaid on stablecoin wallets, connecting those balances to conventional merchant acceptance.
That matters because Visa reaches 175m-plus merchant locations globally. The stablecoin does not need to become a new merchant network from scratch; it can instead plug into established card rails.
For stablecoin cards Africa, that could materially reduce the gap between owning digital dollars and using them in everyday commerce.
Global Card Spending Has Reached Scale
The numbers remain small relative to conventional card payments, but growth has accelerated.
RedotPay said July became the first month in which global stablecoin-card spending exceeded $1 billion.
Paymentscan data cited by the company also show cumulative spending above $10.9 billion. RedotPay expects the next $10 billion to be processed much faster than the first as issuers, wallets and payment rails expand.
Its own platform gives some indication of the underlying ecosystem. The company reports over eight million RedotPay users and says annualised payment volume exceeds $14bn, including both card spending and top-ups.
The distinction is important: RedotPay’s $14 billion figure is broader total payment volume, not stablecoin-card spending alone.
Likewise, its forecast of $50 billion of annual card expenditure by 2028 should be treated as an industry participant’s projection rather than a neutral market forecast.
Why Africa Could Be a Strong Use Case
Chan told Reuters that Latin America currently has the greatest stablecoin-card adoption and growth potential, followed by Africa.
His explanation is useful because adoption is not driven simply by crypto enthusiasm.
It depends on practical payment friction, access to stablecoins, reliable conversion between digital and local currencies and regulatory conditions.
Those factors are particularly relevant in parts of Africa where cross-border payments remain expensive, access to foreign currency can be uneven and users already hold stablecoins for purposes other than speculation.
Nigeria provides the clearest scale example.
IMF research shows stablecoins exceeded 65% of inflows in Nigerian cross-border crypto activity during 2024. It also estimates Nigeria represented 60% regional inflows of stablecoins into Sub-Saharan Africa from late 2019 to early 2025.
Cards potentially turn some of those balances from stored or transferred dollars into payment balances.
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Visa Is Building the Bridge
Established payment networks increasingly appear willing to facilitate rather than resist the shift.
Visa says its stablecoin-linked-card ecosystem already has significant reach. Its programs span 50-plus countries globally and the company expects programme numbers to expand further during 2026.
Its partnership with Bridge, the Stripe-owned stablecoin infrastructure company, takes this further.
Bridge cards cover 18 markets today, while 100-plus countries targeted by year-end includes planned expansion across Africa.
Visa has separately expanded its stablecoin infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In 2025, Visa expanded CEMEA stablecoin settlement and partnered with pan-African fintech Yellow Card to explore stablecoin treasury, liquidity and cross-border payment use cases.
The investment implication is important: legacy card networks may become part of stablecoin adoption rather than simply losing transactions to blockchain-native infrastructure.
Who Could Gain — and Who Faces Competition?
For Tether and Circle, more spending could increase the utility of USDT and USDC beyond holding and transfers.
For fintechs such as RedotPay, cards create transaction revenue and deepen customer engagement.
For Visa and competing networks, stablecoin-linked cards can preserve their position at the merchant layer even when the source of funds changes.
Banks face a more complicated picture.
If stablecoin balances substitute for conventional deposits, banks could lose some payment activity and funding. But banks can also participate through custody, card issuing, foreign-exchange services and stablecoin infrastructure.
Traditional remittance companies and FX providers face similar pressure. A customer who can receive stablecoins, retain dollar exposure and then spend through a card may require fewer separate conversion and transfer services.
That makes Africa digital dollar payments potentially relevant to several listed financial and technology businesses simultaneously.
Adoption Still Faces Important Limits
Africa should not be treated as one regulatory market.
Rules governing cryptoassets, foreign exchange, stablecoins and payment cards differ significantly across countries.
Card availability may also depend on identity checks, licensed issuers, local settlement partners and the ability to move efficiently between stablecoins and domestic currency.
The IMF highlights a broader policy concern as well.
Dollar-denominated stablecoins can improve payment efficiency while also encouraging forms of digital dollarisation. Widespread use could reduce demand for local currency and complicate monetary-policy transmission.
That tension becomes more important if stablecoins move from occasional cross-border transfers into routine domestic spending.
What Investors Should Watch Next
The first indicator is actual transaction growth rather than user registrations.
If monthly stablecoin-card spending remains above $1 billion and continues accelerating, the product category will have stronger evidence of recurring consumer use.
The second is geography.
RedotPay has identified Africa as a high-potential market, but there is currently no robust public estimate separating actual African stablecoin-card expenditure from the global total.
The third is infrastructure. Visa and Bridge’s planned expansion beyond 100 countries could materially increase accessibility if African markets form a meaningful part of the rollout.
Finally, investors should monitor whether card spending complements cross-border stablecoin activity or begins replacing other financial products.
Conclusion
Africa’s stablecoin market appears to be entering a different phase.
The first wave centred on obtaining digital dollars, protecting purchasing power and moving money across borders.
Stablecoin-linked cards extend that infrastructure into consumption.
Global monthly card spending has now passed $1 billion, Visa has more than 130 linked programmes and RedotPay sees Africa as the second-largest growth opportunity after Latin America.
But the investment story is still emerging.
There is no reliable continent-wide African spending figure yet, and the $50 billion 2028 projection belongs to an industry participant.
The stronger signal is structural: digital dollars are becoming easier to move from wallets into ordinary payment networks, potentially changing the competitive economics of African payments well beyond crypto itself.
FAQs
What are stablecoin-linked payment cards?
Stablecoin-linked cards connect a wallet or account containing assets such as USDT or USDC with an established card-payment network. Users can fund purchases from their digital-asset balances while merchants receive transactions through familiar card infrastructure. The exact conversion and settlement process varies by programme. The main benefit is that users do not need merchants themselves to directly accept blockchain-based payments.
How large is stablecoin-card spending globally?
RedotPay said global stablecoin-card spending exceeded $1 billion during July 2026 for the first time, citing Paymentscan data. Cumulative spending has exceeded $10.9 billion. RedotPay forecasts that annual card spending could reach $50 billion by 2028, although that projection comes from a commercial participant in the market and should not be treated as independent consensus.
Is Africa already the world’s second-largest stablecoin-card market?
Not necessarily. RedotPay says Africa currently ranks second after Latin America for stablecoin-card adoption and growth potential. That is a company assessment, not a measured ranking of actual card spending. No reliable public source currently isolates African stablecoin-card transaction value from the global total, so Africa should not be described as having the second-largest dollar spending market without additional data.
Why is Nigeria important to the Africa stablecoin-card story?
Nigeria already has one of the continent’s deepest stablecoin user bases. IMF research estimates the country received about $59 billion in cryptoasset inflows between July 2023 and June 2024 and that stablecoins accounted for more than 65% of Nigerian cross-border crypto inflows in 2024. That existing familiarity with digital dollars creates a potential user base for products that connect stablecoins to everyday payments.
Could stablecoin cards replace banks or remittance companies?
Not necessarily. They create new competition for payments, foreign-exchange conversion and cross-border transfers, but banks can also participate as card issuers, custodians, settlement partners and infrastructure providers. Stablecoin cards may therefore reshape financial intermediation rather than simply eliminate existing institutions. The outcome will depend heavily on regulation, user economics, local payment infrastructure and how easily consumers can move between stablecoins and domestic currencies.
Sources: Reuters, TNGlobal, Visa, IMF, RedotPay
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