Major technology conglomerate Opera is enhancing its cryptocurrency wallet on the mobile browser Opera Mini by integrating the market’s largest stablecoins, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
MiniPay, a stablecoin-based self-custodial wallet embedded in Opera Mini, is launching Pockets, a new feature enabling one-click swaps between the Celo dollar (cUSD) and the newly integrated stablecoins.
Pockets will allow MiniPay users to effortlessly 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 asset swapping in Web3, allowing users to effortlessly swap between all three 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.
Launched in September 2023, MiniPay is built on the Celo blockchain and utilizes Mento’s stablecoin cUSD, which is pegged to the value of the United States dollar.
Initially rolled out in Africa, the wallet extension aims to help local populations send and receive stablecoins using mobile numbers.
“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. High mobile-data costs were and still are an omnipresent issue.”
In addition to the new Pockets feature, MiniPay introduced a Discover Page for decentralized applications (DApps) integrated within the wallet.
This page is designed to organize multiple native DApps, providing users direct access to tools such as Universal Basic Income protocols, savings applications, and games.
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 executive Arnesen highlighted Africa’s mobile-first nature, 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.
Africa is rapidly emerging as a continent with significant interest in cryptocurrency. With one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations globally, 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.
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