African merchants choose hold or instant‑convert models for crypto payments

In Juja, Kenya, mom-and-pop trader Faith Mbinya accepts Bitcoin via the Fedi wallet, saving on transaction costs compared to M-Pesa's flat 7 KES fee; only a handful of her customers pay with BTC each month, but she holds the cryptocurrency as a store of value. In Lagos, Nigeria, upscale restaurant Trib3 accepts Bitcoin, Ether, USDT and other crypto, converting every payment instantly to Naira through gateways like Mular or CoinCircuit to avoid volatility. The Juja model lets merchants absorb price risk, relying on community rebates when Bitcoin falls, while the Lagos model shifts risk to startups that charge a small gateway fee plus a 0.21% Lightning Network outbound cost. Mular reports processing about $500,000 in merchant payments, with top clients moving ₦85 million–₦300 million ($62,000–$218,000) each, and CoinCircuit has handled over ₦700 million ($435,000) since launch. Though crypto payments remain a niche compared to Kenya’s KES 8.24 trillion mobile money market or Nigeria’s ₦1.2 quadrillion electronic payments, founders argue they serve existing on-chain money rather than trying to convert cash users. Will you hold crypto to save on fees, or prefer instant conversion to local currency despite the small gateway cost?

SOURCE: https://techcabal.com/2026/07/13/crypto-payments-in-africa/