Stablecoin settlement firm Minisend is stepping up its Kenya expansion, targeting the country’s established mobile-money and digital payments market as it seeks to make cryptocurrency-based payments easier to use in everyday transactions.

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

The partnership will give Minisend an opportunity to showcase its stablecoin settlement platform to fintech, blockchain and payments players attending the three-day event.

Minisend is building infrastructure that allows users and businesses to receive stablecoins such as USDC and USDT across supported blockchain networks and settle the funds through local financial channels.

The company is targeting a major problem in the use of digital currencies — converting money held on blockchain networks into usable local currency.

For Kenyan users, this could mean receiving a dollar-denominated stablecoin from an overseas client and ultimately settling the value through M-Pesa or another local payment channel.

Businesses could also receive USDC or USDT from customers or international partners before converting the funds into local currency for expenses.

The move comes as stablecoins increasingly attract attention as a potential tool for cross-border payments, remittances and international business transactions.

Unlike conventional cryptocurrencies whose values can fluctuate sharply, stablecoins such as USDC and USDT are designed to track the value of fiat currencies, particularly the US dollar.

Kenya’s widespread use of mobile money makes it an attractive market for companies seeking to link blockchain-based payments with existing financial infrastructure.

“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.

Fabanwo said the focus was shifting towards how stablecoins could work with payment systems already used by consumers and businesses.

Minisend’s platform is designed to handle the blockchain complexity in the background, allowing users to receive digital assets without having to navigate multiple networks, bridges, wallets and exchanges.

The company will use the Nairobi festival to demonstrate its technology and participate in discussions on cross-border payments, merchant transactions and financial inclusion.

The bigger test for stablecoins, however, is moving beyond digital wallets and blockchain networks into the wider economy.
For users, the value of a digital dollar ultimately depends on how easily it can be spent, transferred or converted into local currency.

“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 players from the blockchain, fintech and digital payments sectors as the industry explores the practical applications of blockchain technology across Africa.