African crypto firms pivot to stablecoin infrastructure as retail trading cools

On July 28, Luno — the UK-headquartered crypto company with a regional base in South Africa and operations in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda — said it would reduce its global workforce by 20% while sharpening its focus on institutional products. Earlier, on July 20, Busha's B2B arm, Busha Business, partnered with El Salvador-based stablecoin issuer Tether to distribute USDT to African businesses.

Separately, payments infrastructure provider Onafriq has partnered with crypto wallet infrastructure firm Privy to build regulated stablecoin payment services for businesses across the continent, BitKE reported. The tie-up integrates Privy's embedded wallet technology into Onafriq's network, allowing enterprises to send, receive and settle stablecoin transactions without managing traditional crypto wallets or private keys. The companies said the infrastructure is designed to meet regulatory requirements while hiding blockchain complexity from business customers.

BitKE quoted Privy co-founder and chief executive Henri Stern as saying, "Stablecoins will play an increasingly important role in the future of global payments, but real-world adoption depends on infrastructure that is secure, scalable and simple to implement." Luke Kyohere, Onafriq's Group Chief Product and Innovation Officer, said the company continues to invest in technology to make payments faster and more accessible.

The South Africa-based exchange is reducing its global staff by roughly a fifth as it invests in automation and shifts toward institutional clients, CEO James Lanigan said.