Nigeria Naira’s Stablecoin and Urgency for Global Integration with Fintech and Remittance Firms

By 2028, African fintech companies with international exposure or participating in the vast global remittance sector that do not integrate stablecoins will be disintermediated. Stablecoin growth is accelerating at a very rapid pace since institutional rainmakers normalized the sector through the creation of ETFs for BTC and ETH. In other words, writing about bitcoin, ethereum, etc. will not get you fired since your bank can trade on the ETF associated with these coins!

In doing so, I believe BTC will eventually stabilize as a store of value, thus becoming a new species of asset (crypto-asset). In the crypto ecosystem, stablecoins like USDC, USDT ERC-20, USDT TRC-20, BUSD and some non-USD variants will become the true “cryptocurrency”; yes, the coins you actually use as currency, to buy and sell, not the ones you keep.

Now that it’s 2025, let me I repeat this post that I made in October 2024 as I look at where this market is moving towards.

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I come to the first conclusion that Bitcoin will end up as a digital equivalent of gold. Yes, an asset class that primarily stores value. But since it does not contain a physical component like gold, its long-term viability is not guaranteed.

But while this is happening, it seems like the future is stable in the crypto universe. Two years ago, many people paid for our Tekedia programs with BTC and ETH. But since Q4 2023, over 90% of these crypto payments have been made via USDT (ERC-20) and recently USDC.

Simply, stablecoins are gaining popularity over Bitcoin and this could be because people want predictable value (1 USD is 1 USD, today and tomorrow), even when transaction costs and friction are largely eliminated. The everyday use of stablecoins as a simple means of exchange poses challenges for the long-term viability of BTC as a means of payment. Yes, there is a clear risk of disintermediation for BTC, and this could affect its value.

As for Nigeria, better crypto activity will likely come through a stable version of Naira backed by strong settlement reserves, not through buying and selling BTC, as I posit that in 5 years many will moving BTC towards a pure investment asset class. , reducing marginal transaction costs. Without this revenue, what will the business be?

Circle and Tether, creators of USDC and USDT respectively, look better than Coinbase as these stablecoins will become more popular, skewing the fees exchanges charge from BTC. This explains why Binance with its stablecon BNB seems to have a moat in many respects. For many African players, this market is being reimagined and it appears that winning in the future will require building infrastructure in the local market, which means running native exchanges with associated stablecoins.

*does not endorse cryptography in any way; just a teacher analyzing technology and markets.

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