Juicyway Surfaces from Stealth with $1B Stablecoin-Fueled Cross-Border Transactions

After three years operating under the radar, Juicyway, a fintech startup leveraging stablecoin infrastructure, has officially announced its presence in the market. The company, which has quietly processed over $1 billion in cross-border payments to date, focuses on providing faster, cheaper, and more transparent foreign exchange solutions for thousands of African businesses.

Juicyway Surfaces from Stealth with $1B Stablecoin-Fueled Cross-Border Transactions

After three years operating under the radar, Juicyway, a fintech startup leveraging stablecoin infrastructure, has officially announced its presence in the market. The company, which has quietly processed over $1 billion in cross-border payments to date, focuses on providing faster, cheaper, and more transparent foreign exchange solutions for thousands of African businesses. According to its co-founders, Juicyway achieved this milestone without any significant public app launch or formal marketing efforts.

In an organic growth strategy, the company initially expanded its user base by acquiring a similar venture serving thousands of customers. Among these are prominent names like Andela, Bolt, IHS, Piggyvest, Bamboo, Afriex, and Mocoh SA. The startup has now racked up over 25,000 transactions and generated a total payment volume (TPV) worth $1.3 billion from around 4,000 users. Stablecoins lie at the core of Juicyway’s approach, offering a solution to some of the long-standing issues that have made cross-border transfers cumbersome on the continent.

The co-founders, Justin Ziegler and Ife Johnson, draw from their experiences in top executive positions at Andela and Bamboo, respectively. Their decision to develop a stablecoin-powered platform was partly motivated by what Ziegler observed during Andela’s expansion. Although the company raised significant capital, funneling large amounts of foreign investment into African operations proved more difficult than expected. As Johnson put it: “Loads of solutions existed, they didn’t hit at the problem in a way that a Bamboo or Octa could trust.” He also noted, “On a personal level, I’ve also felt this disparity.” These reflections led to a shared vision of bridging the gap between Africa-based businesses and the global economy.

Rather than relying solely on conventional cross-border methods, Juicyway employs stablecoin assets like USDC or USDT. Funds deposited in U.S. bank accounts are used to buy stablecoins, which can then be transferred to users’ digital wallets or exchanged for local currency. This process enhances speed and reliability while keeping costs lower than those typically associated with legacy solutions. For example, a remittance company based in the U.S. could use Juicyway to manage liquidity and determine favorable rates when converting USD to Nigerian naira. Once the conversion is completed, the remittance business can distribute these funds to its customers without long processing delays.

One of the main challenges for cross-border transactions in Africa is the lack of liquidity, especially for intra-African currency pairs. Juicyway mitigates this by providing access to liquidity pools for both local and international currencies—namely USD, GBP, CAD, and the Nigerian naira. In Nigeria, the company partners with Access Bank to facilitate certain remittance activities, while it collaborates with Lead Bank in the U.S. to deliver virtual dollar accounts to customers. Johnson explained, “One way we’ve managed to stay ahead in navigating complex financial operations is by clearly separating the roles of our principal custodians and payment processors rather than relying on one entity to handle both.”

As part of its compliance efforts, the startup has appointed Joshua Wasserman, a former FDIC bank examiner and Cash App compliance leader, to ensure thorough oversight. Juicyway leverages solutions like Sumsub for robust KYC, KYB, and KYT processes. Additionally, the fintech acquired money transmitter licenses across the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Nigeria. In the near future, the company may pursue similar licenses elsewhere in Africa. Johnson stressed the importance of these moves, stating that Juicyway aims to become a go-to platform for those looking to easily convert African currencies to local ones and back.

The fledgling fintech recently closed a $3 million pre-seed funding round led by P1 Ventures, with participation from Ventures Platform, Future Africa, Magic Fund, Microtraction, and several angel investors. This investment follows the emergence of other Africa-focused stablecoin-driven ventures, such as Yellow Card, Conduit, and additional cross-border fintechs, many of which have also garnered interest from global investors.

While Ife Johnson acknowledges that other players exist in the market, he believes Juicyway is distinctive for its role at “the stablecoin orchestration layer,” aiming to serve customers comprehensively on both the supply and demand side of payments. “Our single and biggest North Star is increasing the access of Africans to the global economy, and it shapes how we make decisions,” Johnson said. “What that means for us is that we’re heavily product- and compliance-led, more than we can be finance-led.”

Emerging from stealth, Juicyway seeks to deepen its influence in a region where it sees enormous potential for stablecoin-based cross-border services. By offering multicurrency-insured accounts, forging new banking partnerships, and reinforcing compliance structures, the startup’s strategy looks set to challenge traditional avenues and empower a broader population of businesses and individuals across Africa.