Circle Ventures backs South Africa's CrissCross in stablecoin payments push
What's the deal? CrissCrossDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the South Africa-based cross-border payments infrastructure company, has raised an undisclosed early-stage investment from Circle VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the corporate venture arm of Circle Internet Group, which issues the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin. The deal was made through Stitch Group, CrissCross's parent company.
What's the endgame? CrissCross gives businesses a single application programming interface (API) to collect payments, make payouts, manage treasury, and exchange currencies across African markets. It connects blockchain-based settlement to local fiat rails, so a company can move value using stablecoins while recipients get local currency in a bank account or mobile wallet.
The company says it operates across more than 30 markets spanning West, Central, East, Southern, and North Africa. The new funding will expand its local payment connections, build more stablecoin settlement capabilities for enterprise customers, and grow its team.
Why now? Stablecoins are increasingly used to move money across borders, making them a growing part of Africa's payments infrastructure. Sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in on-chain crypto value between July 2024 and June 2025, up 52% from the previous year.
The investment is Circle's second notable African bet in 2026. In July, it backed Nigerian fintech Flutterwave as the company added USDC settlement across its payments platform.
Between the lines: CrissCross is trying to close the gap between global stablecoin liquidity and local payment infrastructure. In October, it partnered with Velocity, a stablecoin payments and treasury platform also backed by Circle Ventures, to link institutional on-chain liquidity with local collections, payouts, and foreign exchange.
"Africa's cross-border payments market is massive, complex, and underserved," said James Cope, general manager at CrissCross. "Circle Ventures' investment validates what we've been building: infrastructure that can handle that complexity at scale."
The company makes money from the payments and currency conversions it processes, with pricing that varies by market, payment method, and services used. It chooses between stablecoin and fiat rails based on each client's needs for speed, cost, and compliance.
The signal: The deal reflects a broader push to make stablecoins part of cross-border payment infrastructure rather than standalone crypto products. The real test will be whether these partnerships deliver reliable, compliant settlement at lower cost — not simply expand stablecoin availability.
Read more: techcabal.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
