Obiex says Nigeria’s stablecoin market is much extra environment friendly than it was in 2018 and 2019, when the hole between shopping for and promoting a greenback of crypto in naira ran as broad as ₦20 to ₦30. Demand has scaled since, however the provide behind it’s nonetheless unfold throughout many small sellers.
That’s the present state of Nigeria’s stablecoin market, in keeping with Temitayo Sadique, managing director of Obiex Business, the enterprise arm of Nigerian crypto change Obiex.
“Because of the exceptional need for stablecoins from cross-border trade and remittances, and crypto exchanges cropping up every day, we’ve seen demand scale,” Sadique stated at Moonshot by TechCabal. “But supply, on the other hand, has remained scattered.”
Sadique stated $19 billion in stablecoins got here into Nigeria in 2025. The nation has taken about 60% of sub-Saharan Africa’s stablecoin inflows since 2019, in keeping with a June report by the International Monetary Fund.
Scattered provide makes that quantity costly to maneuver. An organization filling a $1 million order may cope with 10 peer-to-peer (P2P) merchants, Sadique stated, every promoting a slice at a barely larger charge: ₦1,400 per greenback, then ₦1,402, then ₦1,403. By the top, its common worth is worse than the primary quote. As volumes develop, he argued, platforms that may fill giant orders at one worth will set the phrases for everybody else.
Obiex has constructed its enterprise on that guess. It started in 2016 as Paylot, a crypto cost gateway, earlier than shifting to changing crypto into naira when it noticed that was what customers wished. It has never raised venture funding.
Sadique stated 105,000 retailers in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon now commerce on Obiex, alongside greater than 100 companies, from exchanges and remittance corporations to fintechs. By his rely, $1 of each $10 in stablecoins that moved by means of Nigeria final yr went by means of Obiex.
For Sadique, liquidity means delivering cash on time. Promising somebody $100 subsequent week means little if the cash isn’t there when the week comes, he stated. “It’s kind of like a supply-chain question, where you’re answering: can I fulfil this obligation now, when the customer needs it?” Obiex’s reply contains credit score that lets shoppers take liquidity at the moment and settle tomorrow, and worth locks whereas crypto deposits are nonetheless confirming.
For giant trades, Obiex gives a quote system that fixes the speed on orders of $1 million to $10 million. “We don’t just give you an average price to execute your transaction; we give you a quote and lock in that price for you,” Sadique stated.
Regulation is already pushing the market towards bigger players. Since January, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission has required crypto exchanges and custodians to hold ₦2 billion in minimum capital, up from ₦500 million, a bar many smaller platforms will battle to clear.
In Sadique’s view, an environment friendly stablecoin market is one the place a $1 million order clears at a single worth, and that will depend on who can provide liquidity when it’s wanted.
