Stablecoin App MiniPay Reaches Milestone as African Demand Accelerates

MiniPay, the stablecoin wallet and payments app backed by Opera, has reached over 15 million activated wallets—more than double from a year ago. This significant growth underscores Africa’s emergence as a key market for digital dollar solutions.

Launched in Nigeria in September 2023 before expanding across Kenya and other African nations, MiniPay now supports transactions worth over $300 million monthly. The app enables users to make everyday payments, transfer funds peer-to-peer, purchase airtime/data, settle bills, and access universal basic income (UBI) disbursements—services often underserved by traditional banking infrastructure.

“Our earliest markets in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to show the most traction,” said Murray Spark, Senior Director of Business Development at Opera. “This reflects where our most engaged users are as they seek digital alternatives for daily financial needs.”

Stablecoin Dominance and Emerging Use Cases

The majority of assets held in MiniPay wallets consist of USDT (Tether’s dollar-pegged stablecoin), which facilitates the vast majority of transactions. Beyond payments, Opera is integrating tokenized gold products—digital assets backed by physical gold—as a savings option for users in emerging markets.

“Over 91% of Tether Gold holders globally are using MiniPay,” Spark noted. “This has made our platform the single largest channel for accessing digital gold worldwide.”

Expansion Beyond Africa

While primarily focused on African markets, MiniPay is extending its reach through partnerships with local payment systems. Opera recently launched a ‘Pay Like a Local’ feature in Latin America that enables users to spend stablecoin balances via Mercado Pago and Brazil’s PIX network.

The company plans further integrations across Africa and beyond as adoption grows, offering incentives like daily rewards, crypto-earning games, and virtual cards to deepen user engagement.