Flutterwave takes Circle Ventures investment to add USDC settlement

Flutterwave said it has secured a strategic investment from Circle Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Circle Internet Group, and will add USDC settlement to its payments platform. The company did not disclose the size or terms of the investment, but said the move is intended to give businesses more options for cross-border settlement and digital dollar liquidity.

Circle Internet Group, the issuer associated with USDC, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL. Flutterwave said the investment supports a broader stablecoin strategy that also includes its existing work with Ripple and RLUSD.

Flutterwave said its platform connects banks, card schemes, mobile money networks and local payment systems through a single interface, allowing businesses to accept payments and make payouts across multiple African markets without separate country-by-country integrations. The company said it has processed more than one billion transactions worth more than $50 billion over the past decade.

How the USDC settlement option is intended to work

Under the planned integration, Flutterwave said businesses will be able to collect payments locally and settle in USDC where that suits their operations. In practice, that means a merchant or platform could receive local payment flows through existing domestic rails, while using a dollar-denominated stablecoin for settlement, treasury management or cross-border flows.

Flutterwave said the model is designed to reduce settlement delays, extend payment activity beyond conventional banking hours and add flexibility for companies that manage liquidity across currencies and jurisdictions. The company also said businesses already using USDC would gain a direct route into African markets through Flutterwave’s infrastructure.

USDC is described by Flutterwave as one of the most widely used regulated digital dollars, with applications in institutional settlement, liquidity management and international commerce. The company did not provide transaction volumes for USDC activity on its platform or a launch timetable for the settlement feature.

Stablecoins added to a multi-rail platform

Flutterwave said its strategy is to support multiple payment rails rather than rely on a single settlement asset or network. Its platform already brings together fiat payments, bank transfers, cards and mobile money, while its stablecoin plans add blockchain-based settlement options to that mix.

The company said cross-border payments typically involve banks, foreign exchange providers, compliance checks, local payout networks, infrastructure providers and liquidity partners. Stablecoins can add another settlement layer when connected to the payment systems businesses already use, according to Flutterwave.

Flutterwave also reaffirmed that its partnership with Ripple remains central to its stablecoin plans. The company said RLUSD will serve as the default stablecoin across Flutterwave’s stablecoin products, supported by Ripple Payments and the XRP Ledger for enterprise settlement and cross-border money movement.

Alongside that arrangement, Flutterwave said it is expanding support for assets such as USDC because some businesses already hold, settle or manage treasury operations in that stablecoin. The company framed Circle Ventures’ investment as part of an effort to expand the settlement choices available to customers while keeping its Ripple-linked products as a priority in global rollouts.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.