Think of stablecoins and you are close to the new way that Nigerian households and small firms are moving money across borders?
A new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with Stablecoins in Nigeria: A Growing Cross-Border Channel as headline captures this and more:
It says Nigerian households and small firms are moving money across borders in a new way: via smartphones, digital wallets, and U.S. dollar–pegged crypto assets known as stablecoins.
What began as a niche technology has become a meaningful cross-border payments channel. Its rapid growth is easing long-standing frictions in cross-border transactions. It is also testing the limits of existing monetary and regulatory frameworks.
The scale is striking, even though measurement remains imperfect.
Nigeria received about $59 billion in crypto-asset inflows between July 2023 and June 2024. It ranked second globally on Chainalysis’s 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index, and sixth in 2025.
Within sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria accounts for roughly 60 percent of stablecoin inflows since 2019. Stablecoins now form a key bridge between crypto markets and the traditional financial system, as detailed in analysis as part of the IMF’s latest annual economic health check for Nigeria (Article IV report, Annex VII).
Why stablecoins have taken hold
The appeal is straightforward. Stablecoins allow users with a smartphone and internet access to receive remittances or make cross-border payments in minutes, often at lower cost than traditional channels. For households and small firms with limited access to formal banking services, this is a practical alternative.
Global drivers help explain the broader uptake. Stablecoins are relatively stable in value, easy to transfer, and widely used as settlement assets within crypto markets.
They facilitate trading between exchanges and provide a convenient store of liquidity. For remittances, they can undercut conventional channels, where the average cost of sending US$200 to sub-Saharan Africa remains around 9 percent of transaction value, well above the global average of 6 percent, according to the World Domestic conditions have amplified these effects.
In 2023 and 2024, the sharp depreciation of the naira, high inflation, and constrained access to foreign exchange increased demand for dollar-linked assets.
Stablecoins offered both a hedge against currency risk and a tool for paying overseas suppliers. After the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) restricted banks from servicing crypto exchanges in February 2021, activity shifted to less regulated channels, notably peer-to-peer platforms.
Policy trade-offs
The rise of stablecoins brings clear benefits. Faster, cheaper cross-border payments can support trade, remittances, and financial inclusion. Yet the same features raise policy concerns.
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One is monetary sovereignty. As stablecoins are typically denominated in U.S. dollars, widespread use can resemble a digital form of dollarization. By reducing demand for the local currency, it could weaken the transmission of domestic monetary policy.
Another concern is financial integrity. Activity that once flowed through banks is moving increasingly to digital wallets and crypto exchanges. Monitoring systems designed for traditional intermediaries may not capture these transactions effectively. The speed and anonymity of some platforms can also increase risks of illicit finance, including money laundering.
These risks are not unique to Nigeria, but the scale of adoption makes them more pronounced.
Axel Schimmelpfennig is the IMF Mission Chief for Nigeria. Bo Zhao is an economist in the IMF’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department
