Quidax said it has expanded its stablecoin payment infrastructure to more than 21 countries and 14 currencies, pitching the network as a way for African businesses to move money across borders in less than 48 hours without relying on correspondent banks.
The Nigeria-based digital-asset firm, which operates under a provisional licence from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission, announced the expansion on July 28. It said the service targets startups, fintech companies and enterprises that need to send or receive funds across African markets and international corridors.
Quidax is entering a payment market where the cost of moving money remains a major obstacle for regional commerce. The company cited an estimate that cross-border fees and operational frictions cost Africa about $5 billion annually. It described a transfer from Accra to Durban as one that can pass through a European correspondent bank, take as long as seven days to complete and cost up to 13% of the payment’s value.
Its proposed alternative uses stablecoins — digital tokens designed to track the value of another asset, commonly the U.S. dollar — as settlement assets between local currency endpoints. Quidax said its system can complete payments in under 48 hours, with pricing below the 6% global average cited in its announcement and in line with the 5% target supported by the G20 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Network connects African and overseas payment corridors
The company listed nine African countries supported by the infrastructure: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire. It also named Canada, China, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States among the overseas markets connected to its rails, alongside several European countries.
The network supports USDT, XAUT, USAT and other stablecoins, Quidax said. It also handles 14 local and international currencies, including Nigeria’s naira, Ghana’s cedi, the Central African CFA franc, the West African CFA franc and the U.S. dollar.
That structure places stablecoins inside a practical payment workflow rather than treating them solely as tradeable assets. A company could, in principle, fund a transfer in one local currency, use a stablecoin for settlement between markets and deliver value in the recipient’s currency. Removing correspondent-bank hops could reduce the number of institutions involved in a payment, although the final cost and speed would depend on the currencies, local banking access and compliance checks involved in each route.
Quidax said more than 5,000 startups and enterprises already use its infrastructure across payments, remittances, gaming and banking. The company named stablecoin issuer Tether and blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis as partners.
Compliance becomes central to payment-rail competition
Quidax Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Okoro described the infrastructure as compliance-first, tying the product directly to the costs businesses face when sending funds across African borders.
That emphasis reflects the challenge facing stablecoin-based payment systems: fast blockchain settlement alone does not solve the requirements that arise when businesses convert local currencies, screen counterparties and meet rules in several jurisdictions. A cross-border network needs banking, liquidity and compliance arrangements at both ends of a transaction before it can offer a viable substitute for established payment channels.
Quidax’s provisional SEC licence gives the company a formal regulatory foothold in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy by gross domestic product and one of the continent’s most active digital-asset markets. A provisional licence is not the same as an unrestricted authorisation across every market named in the company’s network, but it connects the expansion to Nigeria’s developing regulatory framework for virtual-asset service providers.
The announcement also focuses on businesses rather than consumer speculation. Startups paying overseas suppliers, remittance providers managing settlement balances, gaming firms receiving international payments and banks seeking faster back-end transfers all face different constraints from individual traders. For such users, predictable conversion costs, reliable local payout options and transaction monitoring can carry as much weight as the speed of the underlying blockchain transfer.
Stablecoins are being positioned as settlement tools
Stablecoin payment networks have gained attention in regions where dollar access, foreign-exchange conversion and international bank transfers can be expensive or slow. Their potential advantage comes from enabling value to move continuously on public blockchain networks, while regulated providers manage conversion between digital assets and local currencies.
The model also carries operational risks. Stablecoin users depend on the issuer’s reserve management and redemption process, while payment providers must maintain sufficient liquidity in each supported currency. Businesses using the rails would also need to account for differences in local rules governing digital assets, foreign exchange and cross-border transfers.
Quidax’s expansion therefore tests whether stablecoin settlement can deliver measurable savings in commercial payments rather than simply offering a faster technical route. Its claim of sub-48-hour transfers and lower fees will be most relevant in corridors where correspondent banking has imposed the largest delays and charges.
By connecting African currencies with selected overseas markets, Quidax is seeking to turn stablecoins into a settlement layer for companies that have long absorbed the cost of fragmented payment infrastructure. The commercial case will rest on whether the network can maintain local liquidity, compliance coverage and dependable currency conversion across the countries it says it supports.
Want deeper insight into crypto’s role in remittances and payments? Explore key trends driving cross-border payments today.
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