Nigerian fintech startup Daya has teamed up with the Aptos Foundation and Dubai-based crypto exchange HashKey MENA to launch a pilot stablecoin settlement corridor designed to simplify cross-border payments between Africa and the Middle East.
The initiative will enable businesses to convert local currencies into stablecoins, settle transactions on the Aptos blockchain, and receive funds in local currencies at the destination. By reducing reliance on traditional correspondent banking networks, the partners hope to make international payments faster, cheaper, and more efficient.
The partnership also represents Aptos’ latest push into Africa, where demand for stablecoin-powered financial services continues to grow. Originally launched as a Layer 1 blockchain focused on decentralised finance (DeFi), NFTs, and gaming, Aptos is increasingly positioning itself as infrastructure for cross-border payments in emerging markets.
Under the pilot programme, HashKey MENA will provide regulated fiat on- and off-ramp services across the Middle East, while Daya will manage payment flows across African markets, including settlements involving the Nigerian naira and other local currencies. The corridor will also support bank transfers, virtual local-currency accounts, and payment APIs that businesses and fintech companies can integrate into their existing systems.
The initiative forms part of HashKey’s Asia Connect network, a payment infrastructure network linking markets across Hong Kong, the Philippines, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and now Africa.
“Africa is already a front-runner in stablecoin adoption. What’s been missing is the regulated infrastructure and scalable liquidity needed to connect that demand to the rest of the world,” said Paul Joe, co-founder of Daya.
“By joining HashKey’s Asia Connect network as the African node, with settlement on Aptos, we’re connecting Africa to a payment network that already stretches from Hong Kong and the Philippines to Vietnam and the UAE.”
The partnership follows a growing trend of blockchain networks collaborating with fintechs to expand real-world payment use cases. In July 2025, Aptos partnered with pan-African stablecoin payments company Yellow Card to support cross-border transactions across 20 African countries.
Across the continent, major fintechs are increasingly exploring blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. Flutterwave partnered with Polygon in 2025 before expanding its blockchain settlement strategy through a partnership with Tempo. More recently, Nigerian fintech Paga announced a collaboration with Sui to develop stablecoin infrastructure.
For blockchain networks, these partnerships offer more than visibility. By integrating with fintechs and payment providers that already serve millions of users, networks such as Aptos gain access to real transaction flows that can increase network activity, improve liquidity, and strengthen adoption.
The Daya-HashKey-Aptos collaboration specifically targets one of the biggest pain points in emerging markets: cross-border payments. Businesses often face delays and high costs because transactions must pass through multiple correspondent banks and intermediary currencies before reaching their final destination.
Founded in October 2025 by Tomiwa “Aleph” Lasebikan, a former co-founder of Y Combinator-backed crypto startup Helicarrier, and Paul Joe, Daya provides stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure for African businesses seeking faster and more affordable international transactions. The startup is backed by New York-based crypto accelerator Alliance DAO.
Within the new payment corridor, Aptos will serve as the settlement layer, while Daya and HashKey MENA handle local currency conversion, banking integrations, and payment distribution across their respective markets.
The partnership could help Aptos strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive stablecoin payments market. According to data from stablecoin analytics platform Artemis, the blockchain processed approximately 7.9 million stablecoin transactions over the past 30 days. While significant, that figure remains well behind leading networks such as Base, BNB Chain, and Solana, each of which recorded more than 100 million stablecoin transactions during the same period.
As competition among blockchain networks intensifies, partnerships that connect digital assets to real-world payment infrastructure are becoming a key strategy for driving adoption. For Daya, the collaboration offers an opportunity to expand access to faster cross-border payments for African businesses, while helping bridge financial corridors between two of the world’s fastest-growing regions.