I have increasingly believed that the biggest opportunity for crypto in Africa may not ultimately be crypto itself, but the infrastructure underneath it. Payments, settlement, treasury, FX and cross border commerce still carry significant friction across the continent. Digital asset rails, particularly stablecoins, give us an opportunity to rethink some of that infrastructure. That is why I am particularly excited about what we are building at Luno with Crypto as a Service. The idea is simple: banks, fintechs and other businesses should be able to integrate digital asset capabilities without having to become crypto companies or build the underlying infrastructure themselves. For me, that is where this industry gets really interesting. When crypto becomes less of a destination and more of an invisible layer powering everyday financial services. Great piece by TechCabal on where we are headed.
Luno, the UK-headquartered cryptocurrency firm that operates in four African countries, spent much of its first decade building a retail crypto exchange. Now, Ayotunde Alabi, chief executive officer and country manager for Luno Nigeria, says the company is pursuing a bigger ambition: selling digital asset infrastructure to banks, asset managers, fintechs, and large enterprises. Luno wants to give institutions the tools to offer digital assets to their own customers, issue stablecoins, and move money across borders, Alabi told TechCabal in an interview. Get full details 👉 https://lnkd.in/gK7cmtVx
Stablecoin rails as invisible settlement infrastructure make sense in markets with real FX and cross-border friction. The practical test is whether banks and fintechs can integrate without taking on the underlying complexity.
Institutional banking for digital assets is exactly where the big global Infastructure move is! Well done
Love it.
Infrastructure over the asset is the right lens. The value is in the rails, not the token.