Minisend targets Kenya’s digital payments market with stablecoin platform

Stablecoin settlement firm Minisend is expanding into Kenya, seeking to connect cryptocurrency-based payments with the country’s established mobile-money and digital payments infrastructure.

The company has been named the official payment partner for the Africa Blockchain Festival 2026, scheduled for October 15 to 17 at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi.

The partnership will give Minisend an opportunity to demonstrate its platform to fintech, blockchain and payments firms attending the three-day event, as the use of stablecoins gains attention in cross-border transactions and remittances.

Minisend’s platform enables users and businesses to receive stablecoins, including USDC and USDT, across supported blockchain networks and settle the funds through local financial channels.

The company is seeking to address one of the practical challenges facing cryptocurrency users—converting digital assets held on blockchain networks into usable local currency.

In Kenya, the model could allow a freelancer or business receiving USDC or USDT from an overseas client to convert the funds and settle them through M-Pesa or other local payment channels.

Businesses could similarly receive stablecoin payments from international customers or partners before converting the funds into local currency to meet operating expenses.

Stablecoins differ from conventional cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in that they are designed to maintain a relatively stable value, typically by tracking a fiat currency such as the US dollar. Their potential use in cross-border payments has attracted growing interest among financial technology companies and payment providers.

Kenya’s widespread adoption of mobile money has also created an established digital payments ecosystem that blockchain firms can seek to connect with.

“Kenya represents exactly the type of market where the next phase of blockchain adoption can take place,” said Olubunmi Fabanwo, founder and convenor of the Africa Blockchain Festival.

Fabanwo said discussions around blockchain were increasingly focusing on how stablecoins could work with payment systems already used by consumers and businesses.

Minisend’s platform is intended to simplify the process by handling multiple blockchain networks in the background, reducing the need for users to manage different wallets, exchanges and other blockchain infrastructure.

At the Nairobi festival, the company is expected to demonstrate its technology and take part in discussions on cross-border payments, merchant transactions and financial inclusion.

For stablecoins to gain wider use, however, their utility will depend largely on how easily users can move funds between blockchain networks and the conventional financial system.

“Nairobi is an important place to have this conversation because Kenya has already demonstrated how technology can fundamentally change the way people interact with money,” Fabanwo said.

The Africa Blockchain Festival will bring together participants from the blockchain, fintech and digital payments sectors to discuss applications of the technology and its potential role in Africa’s financial systems.