Circle Invests in Flutterwave to Expand USDC Stablecoin Settlements Across Africa

Circle Invests in Flutterwave to Expand USDC Stablecoin Settlements Across Africa

Quick Read:

• Circle Ventures, the venture arm of USDC issuer Circle Internet Group, has made a strategic investment in Flutterwave.
• Financial terms were not disclosed.
• The deal expands Flutterwave’s USDC settlement infrastructure for cross-border payments across Africa.
• It comes about three weeks after Ripple’s strategic stake in Flutterwave’s $3.2 billion Series E round.
• Flutterwave has processed over $50 billion across more than one billion transactions since 2016.

Africa’s leading payments company, Flutterwave, has secured a strategic investment from Circle Ventures, the corporate venture arm of USDC issuer Circle Internet Group, marking the latest milestone in the fintech’s growing role in Africa stablecoin payments.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the investment will go toward embedding USDC settlement directly into Flutterwave’s payment infrastructure. This means merchants using the platform can collect payments in local currencies, such as the Nigerian naira or Kenyan shilling, while settling transactions in USDC, Circle’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, within minutes rather than days.

Flutterwave founder and CEO, Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, said the backing reflects a broader shift in how money moves across the continent. “This support from Circle Ventures is about backing the rails that will power the next era of global money movement from Africa. Stablecoins like USDC are no longer an experiment; they are becoming core financial infrastructure,” he said, according to a report by Tekedia.

The investment builds on a relationship that began in 2025, when Flutterwave joined the launch of the Circle Payments Network and started testing stablecoin transactions on the Polygon blockchain with a group of merchants. It also arrives roughly three weeks after Ripple took a strategic equity stake in Flutterwave’s Series E round, a deal that valued the company at $3.2 billion and positioned Ripple’s RLUSD as a default settlement asset on the platform, according to Finance X Magazine.

By taking capital from both Circle and Ripple within the same month, Flutterwave is positioning itself as an issuer-agnostic settlement layer for Africa stablecoin payments, rather than betting on a single token. The company says its strategy is built around a multi-rail model that blends cards, bank transfers, mobile money, USSD and now stablecoins into one platform, giving businesses flexibility over how they settle funds.

Flutterwave isn’t alone in chasing this opportunity. Rivals Onafriq and Yellow Card are also partners in the Circle Payments Network, meaning several of Africa’s largest payment players are pursuing similar USDC settlement strategies at the same time, as reported by TechLabari.

Since its founding in 2016, Flutterwave has processed more than one billion transactions worth over $50 billion across 34 African markets, giving it a scale that newer, stablecoin-native rivals are still working to match.