In the past few months, I have covered startups such as Zerocard, CoinCircuit, and Machankura, all operationally distinct, but philosophically trying to do the same thing: plug cryptocurrencies into everyday spending. 

Building solutions like that is a far cry from the first wave of African crypto solutions. In its early years, peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platforms and offshore exchanges accounted for significant activity in the continent’s crypto ecosystem.

It’s the first time the centre of gravity in African crypto is moving from cross‑border arbitrage to low‑value domestic payments, asking a more practical question: can this thing pay my landlord, my Uber driver, or the woman on the corner street who sells me…