Major technology conglomerate Opera is upgrading the cryptocurrency wallet on its mobile browser Opera Mini by integrating the largest stablecoins on the market, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
MiniPay, a stablecoin-based self-custodial wallet built into Opera Mini, is rolling out Pockets, a new feature enabling one-click swaps between the Celo dollar (cUSD) and the newly integrated stablecoins.
Pockets will allow MiniPay users to easily switch between USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT) and cUSD, with “sub-cent fees and no hidden costs” using a drag-and-drop motion, according to a May 3 announcement.
“This feature abstracts assets swapping in Web3, allowing users to effortlessly swap between all 3 stablecoins by simply dragging coins between virtual pockets, never having to worry about gas fees,” Jørgen Arnesen, executive vice president of Mobile at Opera, told Cointelegraph.
Most wallet consumers are concerned about high transaction fees
Launched in September 2023, MiniPay is built on the Celo blockchain and uses Mento’s stablecoin cUSD, which is pegged to the value of the United States dollar. The wallet extension was initially rolled out in Africa to help local nations send and receive stablecoins using a mobile number.
“Given the lack of fixed internet access and high internet costs, we recognized the significant potential of blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer solutions within the continent,” Arnesen said, adding:
“Our research showed that most consumers had concerns over the high fees, unreliable service uptimes, and lack of transparency around transaction progress associated with local payment options. While high mobile-data costs were and still are an omnipresent issue.”
In addition to the new Pockets feature, MiniPay launched a Discover Page for the decentralized applications (DApps) integrated within the wallet. The page is designed to organize multiple native DApps, allowing users direct access to tools such as Universal Basic Income protocols, savings applications and games.
MiniPay sees significant growth in Africa
Since its launch in 2023, MiniPay has seen over three million wallet activations across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, becoming one of the fastest-growing digital wallets on the continent.
Opera Mobile exec Arnesen stated that Africa has long been a mobile-first continent with a young population and widespread smartphone adoption.
“Today, Opera Mini is the most downloaded mobile browser in Africa with nearly 100 million users,” he noted.
Related: Nigeria urged to adopt crypto regulations inspired by Europe
Africa has been quickly emerging as a continent with significant interest in cryptocurrency. With one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in the world, Africa has massive potential for digital asset adoption.
According to BitcoinAfrica.io, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ghana were the top five African countries adopting Bitcoin in 2023.