South Africa’s CrissCross Secures Investment from Circle Ventures

CAPE TOWN & JOHANNESBURG — CrissCross, the South Africa-headquartered cross-border payments infrastructure provider, has secured an undisclosed strategic investment from Circle Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Circle Internet Group (issuer of USD Coin, USDC).

The investment was executed through Stitch Group, CrissCross’s parent company. The fresh capital will be deployed to expand CrissCross's local payment connections and liquidity, scale stablecoin settlement capabilities for enterprise clients,and expand its engineering and operational teams supporting corporate corridors across the continent.

The deal marks Circle’s second major African venture allocation in 2026, following its July investment in Nigerian fintech major Flutterwave to expand USDC settlement across its merchant platform.

Infrastructure Model & Technical Stack

Founded by Lex Campbell and Byron Coetsee and subsequently acquired by Stitch Group, CrissCross addresses cross-border liquidity fragmentation by bridging digital asset rails with local payment systems:

• Unified API Integration: Provides corporate enterprises, financial institutions, and platforms with a single application programming interface (API) for local collections, cross-border payouts, treasury management, and foreign exchange (FX).
• Collection & Payout Capabilities: Enables merchants to collect via local bank transfers, mobile money, and card networks. Payouts can be disbursed in bulk directly into local bank accounts or mobile wallets.
• Hybrid On/Off-Ramp Infrastructure: Operates hybrid settlement logic, choosing between stablecoin (USDC/USDT) or traditional fiat rails based on speed, cost, and compliance parameters required by the client.Recipients receive funds directly in local fiat currency without requiring crypto wallets.
• Market Reach & Multi-Currency Treasury: Operates across 30+ African markets, including both CFA franc zones, supporting over 20 fiat currencies (including ZAR, NGN, KES, GHS, USD, and EUR).

Macro Trends & On-Chain Adoption

The investment coincides with rapid growth in African cross-border stablecoin usage. According to Chainalysis data,Sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in on-chain crypto value between July 2024 and June 2025,representing a 52% year-over-year increase driven by cross-border settlement, import settlement, and currency hedging.

CrissCross's Circle deal follows its October 2026 strategic partnership with Velocity, a stablecoin payments and treasury platform, designed to link institutional on-chain liquidity with local African bank accounts and payment rails.

Executive Statements

"Africa’s cross-border payments market is massive, complex, and underserved," stated James Cope, General Manager at CrissCross. "Circle Ventures’ investment validates what we’ve been building: infrastructure that can handle that complexity at scale."

"We’re excited to support CrissCross as they bring stablecoin-powered payments infrastructure to scale across African markets — some of the most complex and underserved corridors in the world," added Brian Schultz, Vice President of Corporate Development and Ventures at Circle.

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