Investors utilizing Xend Finance now have the opportunity to purchase tokenized U.S. assets through Risevest, though regulatory restrictions impede widespread access throughout Africa.
Xend Finance and Risevest Partner to Bring Global Investment Opportunities to Africans
In a significant move for African investors, Xend Finance and Risevest have partnered to enable Africans to invest in global assets using stablecoins. This partnership provides access to tokenized U.S.-based real-world assets through an on-chain platform.
Users can invest their USD-pegged stablecoins (USDC and USDT) to purchase fractional shares of tokenized equities and real estate starting from as little as $5. The investment management is handled by Risevest via APIs integrated into Xend Finance’s system. This allows African users to earn yields directly on-chain while benefiting from the transparency and security of blockchain transactions.
However, this collaboration faces limitations on access across Africa due to regulation. While the platform aims to democratize access to global investments, cross-border financial regulations and securities laws restrict the availability and scope of this service in some African countries. Additionally, Risevest holds licenses in the U.S. for real estate investments, which helps ensure compliance with U.S. regulation. However, local regulatory environments in African countries remain a factor in how broadly the product can be offered.
The regulatory landscape means the offering is currently focused in more accessible markets, but regulatory challenges continue to shape rollout and adoption. This collaboration exemplifies a growing trend to leverage blockchain to unlock global financial markets for African investors while navigating complex regulatory environments.
Other traditional financial companies, such as Mastercard and Stripe, have also ventured into the decentralized world, typically partnering with established crypto firms to expand their offerings. For instance, Mastercard has partnered with crypto payments platform Moonpay to allow users to transact directly with their stablecoin balances. Similarly, Stripe expanded its offerings into more than 100 markets by launching a stablecoin-based payments feature in May.
Despite the regulatory hurdles, industry experts like Urum acknowledge that tokenization can provide access to global investment markets for Africans. However, they also emphasize that regulatory barriers remain a major challenge. Risevest, with its U.S. broker-dealer license, is one of the traditional financial companies incorporating blockchain technology into its product offerings to address this challenge.
In April, Nigerian-based fintech Flutterwave joined Circle's payment network for settling cross-border transactions using stablecoins. This move further underscores the growing trend of traditional financial companies leveraging blockchain technology to provide more accessible and efficient financial services to Africans.
In conclusion, the partnership between Xend Finance and Risevest represents a significant step in bringing global investment opportunities to Africans. With a minimum investment of $5 and the use of stablecoins, this on-chain platform promises to democratize access to global investments while ensuring transparency, security, and direct yield earning. However, the regulatory landscape in Africa remains a major challenge, and efforts are ongoing to navigate these complexities to fully realize the potential of blockchain technology in African finance.
References: 1. Xend Finance and Risevest Partner to Bring Global Investment Opportunities to Africans 2. Regulatory challenges persist for African crypto and blockchain firms
- The partnership between Xend Finance and Risevest allows Africans to invest in global assets using stablecoins, leveraging blockchain technology to provide access to tokenized U.S.-based real-world assets.
- Users can invest as little as $5 in fractional shares of tokenized equities and real estate through this on-chain platform, and earnings can be directly obtained on-chain, given the transparency and security of blockchain transactions.
- However, the partnership encounters regulatory limitations in providing access in some African countries, as cross-border financial regulations and securities laws restrict availability.
- Traditional financial companies like Mastercard and Stripe are also jumping onto the decentralized bandwagon, partnering with crypto firms to expand their offerings, such as Moonpay and stablecoin-based payments.
- Partnerships like that of Xend Finance and Risevest demonstrate a trend to unlock global financial markets for African investors, while navigating intricate regulatory environments remains crucial.
- The Nigerian-based fintech, Flutterwave, recently joined Circle's payment network for settling cross-border transactions using stablecoins, further affirming the growing trend of traditional financial companies utilizing blockchain technology to offer more accessible and efficient financial services in Africa.
