Stablecoin settlement platform Minisend is strengthening its presence in Kenya, positioning the country as an important market for its next phase of growth as it develops infrastructure designed to make stablecoins easier to use for everyday payments, business transactions and cross-border settlement.
As part of its growing focus on the Kenyan market, Minisend has also been announced as the Official Payment Partner of Africa Blockchain Festival 2026, taking place from October 15 to 17 at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi.
The partnership will put Minisend at the center of one of the continent’s major conversations around blockchain-powered financial infrastructure, digital payments and the increasing role stablecoins could play in connecting African consumers and businesses to the global digital economy.
Minisend is building a cross-chain settlement layer that allows users and businesses to receive stablecoins such as USDC and USDT across supported blockchain networks and move those funds into familiar local financial channels.
The proposition is simple: someone receiving stablecoins should not have to navigate multiple blockchain networks, bridges, exchanges and wallets before being able to use their money.
Minisend is developing infrastructure intended to handle much of that complexity in the background while enabling users to settle their digital assets into local payment systems.
The company’s increased focus on Kenya comes at a time when the conversation around cryptocurrency in Africa is gradually moving beyond trading and speculation toward practical financial applications.
“Kenya represents exactly the type of market where the next phase of blockchain adoption can take place,” said Olubunmi Fabanwo, Founder and Convenor of Africa Blockchain Festival. “People are already comfortable sending, receiving and paying digitally. What platforms such as Minisend are now exploring is how stablecoins can connect with that existing behaviour and make it easier for Africans to participate in a financial system that is increasingly global and digital.”
Rather than asking consumers to abandon existing financial systems, Minisend’s approach is focused on connecting blockchain infrastructure with payment tools that people already understand.
A Kenyan freelancer, for example, could receive payment in a dollar-denominated stablecoin and ultimately settle the value through M-Pesa. A business could accept USDC or USDT while using local currency for its operating expenses. Merchants and technology companies could also integrate stablecoin payments without requiring their customers to understand the underlying blockchain infrastructure.
Kenya offers a particularly compelling environment for such innovation. The country has built one of Africa’s most recognized digital payments ecosystems, with mobile money deeply integrated into personal and commercial transactions.
That familiarity with digital financial services creates an opportunity for the next generation of fintech companies to build on established consumer behaviour rather than having to create it from the beginning.
Minisend’s participation at Africa Blockchain Festival 2026 will provide the company with a platform to demonstrate how its stablecoin infrastructure can work within this environment.
As Official Payment Partner, Minisend will showcase the connection between stablecoin payments and local settlement, while participating in wider discussions around cross-border transactions, merchant payments, financial inclusion and the infrastructure required to make blockchain useful beyond cryptocurrency trading.
The broader challenge for the blockchain industry is increasingly not whether money can move on-chain, but what happens when that money needs to enter everyday economic life.
A digital asset that can move internationally within blockchain networks still has limited practical value for many users if accessing it locally remains complicated.
“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 added. “Africa Blockchain Festival 2026 is about moving beyond conversations around the potential of blockchain and looking at infrastructure that can actually be used. Connecting stablecoins with M-Pesa, banks and other local payment systems is the type of real-world application that can help move the industry forward.”
The partnership with Minisend reinforces an increasingly important message: the next stage of blockchain adoption in Africa will be measured not simply by how many people hold digital assets, but by how easily those assets can be used in everyday life.
