Fintech Industry Trends

NYSE just announced a securities tokenization platform. $40+ Trillion in equities are coming onchain. This is not a pilot or a proof of concept. And not a “crypto experiment.” The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is building infrastructure for tokenized securities as a core market primitive. Today’s equity markets still run on legacy rails. • T+2 settlement • Multiple clearing layers • Fragmented global access • Capital locked in intermediaries Tokenization turns things upside down. Under the new regime, onchain securities enable: • 24/7 markets • Near-instant settlement • Atomic delivery vs payment • Global distribution by default But key detail is how NYSE is executing this shift. The existing exchange will keep operating as it does today, while a new tokenized securities platform runs in parallel. Same institution, but two market regimes. This approach allows capital markets to migrate without forcing an abrupt transition or breaking existing workflows. This parallel setup also gives the rest of the industry time to realign: → 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 is preparing for equities to trade as programmable, onchain assets. → 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲 is positioning as the gateway for tokenized equity distribution and custody. → 𝗗𝗧𝗖𝗖 is tokenizing clearing, settlement, and collateral to modernize market plumbing. As these players converge, the shift becomes structural rather than theoretical. Settlement cycles collapse. Capital efficiency improves. Market access becomes global by default. When NYSE commits to running both systems side by side, it’s a clear signal. Capital markets are not experimenting with blockchain. They are adopting it. P.S. If this is not proof that web3 is going mainstream, then what is? ________________________________________________________ 👋 I’m Aram, helping web3 leaders & B2B businesses grow on 𝗖𝗿𝘆𝗽𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻. ♻️ Repost this to help others in your network. 📌 Follow Aram Mughalyan for daily crypto insights & LinkedIn growth tactics.

Wall Street firms are doubling down on digital assets. Last week's Q2 2025 earnings season exposed a clear divide: while some major banks and firms were relatively silent on digital assets, others positioned themselves as crypto pioneers. Recent legislative developments created more regulatory clarity and running room for financial institutions to explore institutionalizing digital assets, and the market leaders have been front running investments and partnerships and are wasting no time staking leadership claims in the space. Which firms are positioning, partnering, and investing to establish a lead? BlackRock has positioned itself as a leader in shaping the future of finance, with increasing involvement in digital assets, tokenization, and managing stablecoin reserves. Beyond the earnings rhetoric, what is BlackRock doing to drive this innovation? BlackRock's business relationships reveal the depth of their digital asset strategy. Their partnerships span cryptocurrency custody (Coinbase, Anchorage Digital), stablecoin backing (Ethena), and blockchain infrastructure (Injective). They've also invested in digital asset trading platforms like Flowdesk and fintech innovators including Upvest, Texas Stock Exchange, and Sokin; creating a comprehensive ecosystem for digital asset integration across trading, custody, and tokenization. Insights on other major players' digital assets strategies from CB Insights' Earnings Analyst agent insights on their Q2 earnings calls: → Citigroup emerged as another aggressive adopter, with CEO Jane Fraser expressing "high confidence and enthusiasm" about Citi Token Services' ability to provide "multi-asset, multi-bank, cross-border, always-on solutions without needing to partner with other banks." → BNY Mellon and State Street focused heavily on stablecoin infrastructure, with BNY serving as "reserve custodian for Société Générale's first USD stablecoin in Europe" and "primary custodian for Ripple's US stablecoin reserves." State Street's CEO highlighted how "tokenization of money market funds enables uses of these assets in a different way than originally anticipated." CB Insights' Earnings Analyst agent help identify these strategic pivots immediately after calls. Want insights analysis on the major tech firms announcing earnings this week? Comment "Mag7" below for free access to CB Insights' Earnings Analyst breakdown of each Mag7 Q2 2025 quarter and where they are headed.

Africa’s Cross-Border Payments Are at a Turning Point — But Can Digital Fix the “Last Mile”? Africa’s $200+ billion* annual cross-border payments market is growing fast, but cost, speed, and transparency gaps still hold it back. Citi’s latest research shows that digital rails — from ISO 20022 to regional schemes like PAPSS — could change the game. The question: will the ecosystem move together, or build new silos? ⸻ THEMES • Speed & Transparency Are Now Baseline Expectations — Swift GPI and ISO 20022 adoption are giving banks and corporates package-tracking-style visibility on payments. • Regulators Are Raising the Stakes — Multiple central banks are piloting instant cross-border settlement models to reduce reliance on USD/EUR corridors. • Fintechs Are Closing Merchant Gaps — Players like Yoco are targeting SMEs with POS, e-commerce, and reconciliation tools to smooth the last mile. VARIATIONS • PAPSS in West Africa enables real-time settlement in local currencies — but adoption remains uneven. • Southern Africa still leans on legacy correspondent models, with higher friction and cost. • BRICS Pay pilots could bypass traditional rails entirely, but risk fragmentation if not interoperable. IMPLICATIONS • Banks risk losing corporate flows to fintechs if they don’t match speed and user experience. • Regional rails will only succeed if they integrate seamlessly with global systems. • Digital assets (stablecoins, CBDCs) offer potential cost savings but will stall without clear regulatory alignment. WHAT’S NEXT The future hinges on ecosystem orchestration, not just tech. To truly modernise, Africa’s cross-border payments must combine: 1. Common data standards (ISO 20022 end-to-end) 2. Interoperable domestic and regional scheme 3. Regulatory frameworks that enable innovation without silos ⸻ The real disruptor isn’t a single new rail — it’s multi-rail intelligence that routes payments dynamically for cost, speed, and compliance, in real time. Opinions: my own. Source: Citi, “Cross-Border Payments in Africa” #payments #africa #iso20022 #digitalpayments

Africa quietly processed 64 billion instant payment transactions worth nearly 2 trillion dollars in 2024. That is not a fintech headline. That is economic infrastructure hiding in plain sight. This week on the Unlocking Africa Podcast, I sat down with Sabine F. Mensah, Deputy CEO of AfricaNenda Foundation and co-author of the State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa 2025 report, one of the most comprehensive studies ever produced on Africa’s real time payments ecosystem. What stood out most in this conversation was how clearly it reframed payments, not as a niche fintech topic, but as core economic infrastructure driving trade, productivity, and inclusion. As Sabine explained… “Digital payments mean more people are accessing and using digital payments and leveraging them to contribute to productive activities that can drive the economy.” Drawing on insights from 31 countries, we explored why Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s first fully mature instant payment system, and why this success was not accidental. In Sabine’s words… “It is not just about speed. It is about who is included and how systems are designed from day one.” We discussed: • Why scale alone does not guarantee inclusion • How interoperability transforms SME cash flow and liquidity • Why instant payments are foundational to AfCFTA success • How real time settlement changes growth outcomes for African businesses • Why trust, consumer protection, and recourse mechanisms matter as much as infrastructure One line that stayed with me throughout the episode… “There is no trade without payment. Digital payments are as important as ports and customs.” And a reminder that inclusion is deeply human... “It is not just one consumer with a bad experience. It is my family, my village, my community.” This episode is essential listening for policymakers, investors, founders, and anyone serious about doing business in Africa. Payment systems are no longer background infrastructure. They are central to growth. ⬇️ Listen now, link in the comments below ⬇️ #AfCFTA #DigitalPublicInfrastructure #PaymentsInfrastructure #AfricaTrade #InclusiveGrowth #Podcast

𝐍𝐚𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐪’𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭: 𝐀 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬! Nasdaq has asked the SEC for permission to bring tokenized securities - stocks and ETFs on blockchain rails—into mainstream U.S. trading. On paper, it’s a filing. In reality, it’s a tipping point. If approved, by 2026 investors could own and trade tokenized shares with the same rights, order book, and protections as their traditional equivalents. A fusion of Wall Street’s credibility with blockchain’s efficiency. But this isn’t just about the U.S. market—it’s a global signal. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Europe: MiCA gave digital assets a regulatory frame, but Nasdaq may force exchanges like Deutsche Börse and Euronext to accelerate adoption - or risk irrelevance. Asia: Singapore and Hong Kong already piloted tokenized bonds. Nasdaq’s move will pressure them to scale, not experiment. Middle East & Africa: DIFC and ADGM position themselves as tokenization hubs. Nasdaq’s credibility either makes them allies - or challengers. Global South: Tokenized fractional ownership could unlock retail participation in capital markets where access has long been limited. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬 The SEC: This isn’t about approving a product- it’s about rewriting the U.S. securities playbook. Global coordination: IOSCO, BIS, and the G20 must move faster, or we risk fragmented liquidity pools instead of a global marketplace. Different lenses: Europe prioritizes investor protection. Asia prioritizes speed. The U.S. now has the chance to define balance. 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 - 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑝𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 - 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡, 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑒. - 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑥𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑛. 𝐼𝑓 𝑁𝑎𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑞 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠, “𝑡𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠” 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦. - 𝐺𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝑅𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒: 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦. When the NYSE opened its doors to tech IPOs in the 1990s, it wasn’t just about listings - it redefined global capital formation. Nasdaq’s tokenization proposal could be this generation’s equivalent moment. The question isn’t if tokenization will reshape markets. It’s: 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡-𝐮𝐩?

The World’s Largest Fintech Lab 🧪- This is Africa The future of payments, if not finance, isn’t being built in London or Singapore. It’s being built in Antananarivo and Nairobi A couple of weeks back, I was in Madagascar 🇲🇬 - not on holiday (although I did share some of pics of the unbelievable flora and fauna), but to see the mobile money ecosystem firsthand. MVola | Axian Group, the country’s dominant platform, started as a simple transfer service in 2010. Today it’s a licensed digital bank with a Visa card accepted in 200 countries, savings products, nano-credit, and API integrations for third-party developers. It has over 10 million customers in a country where fewer than 700,000 people held bank accounts a decade ago. A country where >3/4th of the population lives below the poverty line has built a more inclusive financial access layer than most G20 nations have managed with decades of banking reform. ———- A continent on the move From basic transfers to full-stack digital banking in 15 years, without a single physical branch network is the story of an entire continent. Africa now accounts for 74% of all mobile money transactions on the planet. The numbers are staggering: 🚀 1.1 billion registered accounts 🚀 $1.1 trillion in transaction value last year 🚀 22% increase in volume YoY 🚀 Mobile money added an estimated $190 billion to Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP in 2023 But the real signal isn’t scale, it’s what’s being built on top of it: 🧱 PAPSS - Africa’s continental payment settlement system went live in 2022 and already connects 19 countries, enabling real-time cross-border payments in local currencies. It launched its own continental card scheme in 2025 and a pan-African currency marketplace 🧱 Stablecoins are layering on top of mobile money rails, with Africa recording the world’s highest stablecoin ownership rate at 79%. Sub-Saharan Africa moved $200 billion+ in on-chain value in the past year, 43% of it in stablecoins What’s emerging isn’t just financial inclusion, it’s a parallel financial architecture which is mobile-native, interoperable, continental in scope and built without the constraints of legacy core banking systems Africa, with a median age of 19 and nearly 300 million still-unbanked adults, is running the experiment that the rest of the world’s financial system needs but can’t run on itself. The continent isn’t catching up, I would argue it’s prototyping If you’re in financial services strategy anywhere - Amsterdam, Dubai, Tokyo - you should be studying what’s happening between Dakar and Antananarivo with the same seriousness you’d give to what’s happening in Silicon Valley or London. The future of financial infrastructure is being stress-tested here. In real time and at population scale #Payments #Africa #DigitalFinance #futureoffinance #mobilemoney

Why tokenizing stocks 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 revolutionize financial markets? Tokenizing publicly traded equities might create new issues with only marginal benefits. What issues? 𝟏. 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 - Firms can also achieve benefits of faster settlement, better reconciliations, improved transparency, by upgrading existing infrastructure or using other Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), without public tokens or blockchains. - Many financial assets are already largely digitized, adding them "onchain” doesn't change the nature of the product. - The additional cost and complexity of wallets, keys, and smart contracts may not justify the benefits. 𝟐. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - Existing rules for legal finality, investor protection and cross border supervision must be mapped or completely rewritten, which is slow and politically sensitive. - Compliance regimes differ sharply by country, raising legal risk and compliance cost. - Many tokenized offerings are limited to professional investors, denting the “financial inclusion” keeping and keeping trading volumes small. 𝟑. 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 - Introduces new cyber and operational risks like smart‑contract bugs, or private‑key theft, that directly compromise investor assets. - Public blockchains still aren't reliable enough for systemically important equity markets. Scalability, uptime, and interoperability are recurring issues. - Running parallel systems (legacy plus tokenization) raise complexity and operating cost for years before any efficiencies appear. - The “code is law” finality can be unforgiving. A user mistake or hack may be irreversible upending consumer‑protection expectations. 𝟒. 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬: 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 (𝐒𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐫) - Needs significant upfront investment in infrastructure with uncertain payback. Requires a critical mass of issuers, intermediaries, and investors to be on the same rails, for any benefits to appear. - No single player wants to take on these first mover costs when success hinges on broad market participation. 𝟓. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭‑𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 - Amplifies some systemic risks especially volatility. Easier access via fractional ownership and 24x7 trading can encourage leverage, and more rapid cross-border market stress. - Greater friction in price discovery and execution, if tokenized equities are fragmented across many chains. These risks may make regulators and large institutions hesitant to shift core equity markets onchain, limiting how transformative tokenization will be for blockchain networks or the wider financial system. What do you think? #crypto #blockchain #equities #tokenization

Africa's Payment Revolution: The Numbers That Change Everything This map reveals something extraordinary about African markets that most foreign companies completely miss. Look at the real-time payment volumes: -Nigeria: 5.1 billion transactions -Kenya: 12 billion transactions -South Africa: 200 million transactions The Hidden Reality: While foreign companies worry about "payment infrastructure" in Africa, Africans are conducting billions of real-time transactions annually. Kenya alone processes more real-time payments than Germany (4.1B), U.K. (4B), or Japan (1.8M). What This Means for Foreign Companies: -The old assumption: "Africans don't have banking infrastructure" -The new reality: Africans have leap-frogged traditional banking entirely Business implications: -Mobile money penetration exceeds traditional banking -Instant payment capabilities in markets you thought were "cash-only" -Digital commerce infrastructure more advanced than many European markets -Consumer behavior optimized for real-time transactions The Opportunity Gap: After 100+ projects across 24 African countries, I see foreign companies still building payment strategies around assumptions from 2010. Meanwhile, African consumers expect: -Instant mobile payments -Real-time transaction confirmations -Seamless cross-border transfers -Digital-first commerce experiences Real Examples: -Mistake: European retailer insisting on cash-only operations in Kenya -Reality: Lost 60% of potential customers who only transact via M-Pesa -Success: Asian e-commerce platform integrating mobile money first -Result: 300% faster market penetration than competitors The Strategic Question: Are you building your African expansion around your payment preferences, or your customers' payment reality? The Competitive Advantage: Companies that understand Africa's real-time payment ecosystem don't just enter markets faster, they capture market share from competitors still stuck in cash-based thinking. The data doesn't lie: Africa isn't waiting for payment infrastructure. Africa IS the payment infrastructure innovation. Your move. #AfricaPayments #MobileMoney #DigitalCommerce #FinTech #MarketEntry #MrExportToAfrica

SARB just became a 50% Owner of BankservAfrica. South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has taken a major stake in BankservAfrica. And Bankserv has now rebranded as PayInc SA. But who are they? They're the core engine behind SA’s payment systems. Think of BankservAfrica as the national railway for digital payments – it handles everything from card transactions and EFTs to real-time platforms like PayShap SA. Now, with SARB acquiring them, SARB isn’t just the regulator, they'll also be the co-owner and modernizer of that railway. It's like the government is making sure the train goes to underserved towns (the unbanked), and the train keeps "running" smoothly. 🔁 But why is SARB stepping in? Interoperability: They want to ensure all payment systems – old and new – can work together seamlessly. Inclusion: They want to extend affordable digital payment access to underserved communities, "the unbanked". Innovation: They want to accelerate the shift from cash to digital, supporting initiatives like instant settlements and lower transaction costs. And this follows a trend seen in emerging markets like India (UPI) and Brazil (Pix), where central bank-led payment modernisation dramatically increased financial inclusion and reduced reliance on cash. But this also theoretically means faster, cheaper, and safer transactions for everyone – from street vendors accepting QR payments to businesses settling invoices in real time. SARB’s move signals that payments are now critical national infrastructure. And when central banks invests directly, change tends to happen faster. But will this actually increase financial inclusion in South Africa? Will this make a difference? #SARB #BankservAfrica #Payments #DigitalTransformation #FinancialInclusion #Fintech #SouthAfrica —— I'm Elly - a data analyst in banking. If you liked this, you'll like my free newsletter THE BANKING BRIEF: 5 Minute banking and fintech news.

Why we are investing in stablecoin infrastructure in Africa Money should move like information. Fast, cheap, and borderless. But in the majority of the markets we invest in, it doesn’t. Cross-border payments are still slow, expensive, and full of friction. That’s why stablecoins have our attention right now. For businesses and individuals, stablecoins are starting to unlock real utility. They make it possible to settle payments instantly, send remittances at a fraction of the cost, and hold value in a currency that won’t lose 20% overnight. Globally, the stablecoin market is now worth more than $230 billion. And in Africa, adoption is accelerating fast - with stablecoins accounting for 43% of all crypto transaction volume in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024. In three of Africa's biggest markets, the picture gets even more interesting. 🇳🇬 In Nigeria stablecoin transactions reached almost $22 billion between mid-2023 and mid-2024, making it the continent’s largest market. 🇰🇪 In Kenya, inflows topped KES 444 billion (around $3.5 billion) over the same period, driven by currency volatility and the ubiquity of mobile money. 🇿🇦 And in South Africa, more value now moves through stablecoins than Bitcoin, with transaction volumes rising by over 50% month-on-month since late 2023. Financial systems in emerging and frontier markets make this shift especially meaningful. Currencies can be volatile, banking networks fragmented, and remittance fees among the highest in the world. At the same time, mobile money is deeply embedded, digital adoption is strong, and regulation is catching up, which leads to a powerful combination and real innovation. We've already invested in this space and the growth we've seen at a portfolio level over the past 12 months has been promising: Lemonade Payments (Baobab ’24) are building the infrastructure that helps businesses move money seamlessly across borders using blockchain technology. Rafiki are helping distributed teams send and receive money instantly, using stablecoin infrastructure to make payroll and invoicing seamless. At Baobab Network, we believe the architecture of money is being rewritten, and some of the most transformative ideas will come from the markets where friction is highest. If you’re building in this space; across on-chain rails, treasury tools, or cross-border settlement, we’d love to hear from you.