London-based stablecoin infrastructure company Velocity has announced a new partnership with South African payments and FX infrastructure provider CrissCross to connect global stablecoin liquidity with local financial infrastructure across Africa. The partnership is expected to extend Velocity’s network into 30+ additional African markets and combine its institutional stablecoin infrastructure with CrissCross’s local payments, FX, collections and payout capabilities.
This follows Velocity’s $38 million Series A announced in July, with plans to expand into Africa and Latin America and invest in infrastructure for stablecoin-based treasury and settlement. Rather than building every local payment connection itself, Velocity is plugging institutional stablecoin liquidity into an existing African payments network.
“The opportunity is to connect global liquidity much more effectively with the infrastructure businesses rely on in each market. CrissCross has built strong local payments and FX capabilities across a region where stablecoins are already widely used. Combining that reach with Velocity’s institutional network allows us to build more complete payment and treasury solutions for institutions moving money across these corridors,” Olann Kerrison, Chief Network Officer at Velocity, said.
“Cross-border payments increasingly depend on being able to move between different forms of money and different payment systems without adding complexity for the customer,” James Cope, General Manager at CrissCross, explained. “We have focused on building the local infrastructure and liquidity required to operate effectively across African markets. Partnering with Velocity extends that connectivity into a broader institutional stablecoin network, giving global financial institutions and enterprises a more direct route into the markets we serve.”
