Global remittances are a lifeline for millions across Africa and stablecoins, led by USDC, are becoming the rails that make those flows faster, cheaper, and more transparent. EdenFi uses USDC on Base to power remittances into Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Ghana and beyond, letting senders and recipients move value in seconds with predictable settlement and lower fees. Here’s how and why that matters, with the numbers to prove it.
USDC’s growth: a payments-ready rail
USDC’s adoption has surged: monthly transaction volumes topped $1 trillion in late 2024, and USDC supply and on-chain activity have grown dramatically year-over-year, making it one of the most liquid and widely used stablecoins for cross-border value transfer.
For remittances, that scale matters: liquidity and deep markets reduce slippage, make swaps cheaper, and permit instant settlement between senders and local liquidity providers.
Remittance scale and costs: the problem stablecoins solve
Remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries reached roughly $685 billion in 2024, and recorded growth picked back up after a slow 2023. Millions of families rely on these transfers for food, school fees, and small business capital.
Yet the cost of sending money remains high: the global average fee to send a typical $200 remittance has hovered around the 6–7% range, a huge drag on purchasing power in recipient countries. Stablecoin rails like USDC can compress many of those middle-man costs by settling value on-chain and enabling cheaper on/off-ramp pathways.
Why USDC works well for Africa diaspora flows
- Predictability & stability. USDC is pegged 1:1 to the dollar and backed by transparent reserves and institutional rails, which reduces FX uncertainty during settlement. Circle’s compliance-centric approach has helped institutional adoption and on-ramp liquidity.
- Speed. On suitable L2s (like Base) or settlements to liquidity partners, USDC can move from sender to recipient in seconds or minutes, far faster than many traditional bank rails.
- Lower end-to-end cost. By minimising correspondent banking fees and enabling peer-to-peer transfers or local settlement with on-ramps/off-ramps, USDC flows can cut the effective cost to senders and increase payout to recipients. Several pilots and startups already show material savings by using stablecoins for remittances.
Regional context: Sub-Saharan Africa and key markets
Sub-Saharan Africa received about $54 billion in remittances in 2023, a material sum for many local economies even though a meaningful portion of flows still goes through informal channels.
Nigeria, one of EdenFi’s biggest corridors reported remittances rising to about $20.9 billion in 2024 as on-going reforms improved FX availability and confidence, highlighting the real demand for reliable cross-border value transfer.
How EdenFi uses USDC to improve outcomes
EdenFi integrates USDC rails to do three practical things:
- Send: diaspora users convert fiat to USDC in-app and push it instantly to a recipient or to EdenFi’s local liquidity partners in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Botswana, etc.
- Settle locally: partners or local payout rails convert USDC to local currency at competitive rates, or accept USDC for direct merchant payments (in places where merchants support stablecoins).
- Reduce friction: gas abstraction (smart wallet UX), stable on-chain settlement, and compliant KYC on both sides keep the flow regulated and user-friendly.
A path to lower costs and broader access
Where traditional corridors impose layered fees and delays, USDC-powered flows reduce intermediaries and make it easier to offer near-real-time payouts or merchant settlements. As Circle and the broader stablecoin ecosystem scale, tools and rails (on-ramps, custody, regulated partners) are improving rapidly, a structural advantage EdenFi leverages to expand corridors and lower costs for users.
Stablecoins don’t replace fiat, they knit fiat rails together more efficiently. For diaspora communities sending money home to Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Ghana and other countries, USDC paired with EdenFi’s wallet delivers speed, transparency, and real cost savings. As global remittance volumes grow and the average cost pressure remains, building on proven stablecoin rails is one of the clearest paths to making remittances work better for African families and the diaspora that supports them.