Ripple expands into Africa’s $205 billion cryptocurrency market through RLUSD partnerships and custody solutions as XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) is testing the $1.30 support, which has held several times over the past two weeks.
The African push
Between July 2024 and June 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa received over $205 billion in on-chain value, an increase of 52% from the previous year.
Nigeria ranked 6th and Ethiopia 12th in the Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index in 2025.
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has seen strong demand across Africa through partnerships with Mercy Corps Ventures in Kenya for aid delivery, as well as Chipper Cash, VALR and Yellow Card for institutional access.
Additionally, Absa Bank signed a strategic partnership for Ripple Custody.
Ripple’s 2026 survey found that 57% of financial leaders prefer partners who provide custody, orchestration and compliance simultaneously, rather than managing these elements separately.
The regulatory wave
Eight African countries have implemented cryptocurrency-specific regulation, and others are working to develop formal frameworks focused on licensing digital asset service providers, strengthening anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, and establishing standards for data protection. consumers.
In June 2023, South Africa implemented a comprehensive framework classifying crypto-assets as financial products.Â
In October 2025, Kenya signed its Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill into law, placing oversight under the responsibility of the Central Bank of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority.
Nigeria officially recognized digital assets as securities under the Investment and Securities Act in 2025.Â
The Central Bank of Nigeria has eased previous restrictions on banks working with licensed digital asset providers, by launching an AML supervision pilot for virtual asset service providers.
The country issued guidelines on stablecoins last year. Mauritius, for its part, introduced Africa’s first comprehensive frameworks through the VAITOS Act of 2021, with strong requirements in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The use case engine
Africa is responsible for 70% of the $1 trillion global mobile payments market. In sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of adults had mobile payment accounts in 2024, compared to 27% in 2021.
A third rely exclusively on mobile money to access the global financial system.
Traditional cross-border payment infrastructure remains a pain point across the region, compounded by the lack of access to stable foreign currencies.
Digital assets provide a more efficient alternative to traditional infrastructure, which requires multi-day settlement times and significant fees.
Technical ventilation
XRP is down 1%, moving back towards the $1.30 support. The descending trendline from the April 17 high at $1.61 has rejected every significant rally.
The parabolic SAR at $1.3473 is immediate resistance.
All three VWAP levels (1.3157, 1.3185, 1.3129) are tightly compressed around the current price.
Primary support is at $1.30, with secondary support at $1.2800. Resistance clusters lie at $1.3185 (VWAP), then $1.3473 (SAR), then $1.38. A clear break below $1.30 with significant volume would target $1.25.
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