HashKey MENA Pilots Stablecoin Payment Corridor Linking Africa and the Middle East

HashKey MENA, a Dubai-based virtual asset exchange licensed by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), has launched a pilot initiative to explore regulated stablecoin-powered settlement flows for cross-border trade between the Middle East and Africa.
The company has signed a Corridor Pilot Agreement with Aptos Foundation to develop a business-to-business (B2B) stablecoin payment corridor. The initiative will be delivered in partnership with Daya, a Pan-African stablecoin payments platform, and will run on the Aptos Layer 1 blockchain.

Addressing Cross-Border Payment Challenges

The pilot aims to tackle longstanding challenges associated with traditional cross-border payments, including high transaction costs, foreign exchange friction, and lengthy settlement times.

Through the corridor, businesses will be able to access regulated stablecoin settlement capabilities alongside traditional payment infrastructure such as SWIFT transfers, bank wires, virtual local-currency accounts, and payment APIs. The initial rollout will support transactions involving the Nigerian Naira and other African currencies.

HashKey MENA will provide compliant AED, USD, and multi-currency fiat-to-stablecoin on- and off-ramp services, enabling businesses to move seamlessly between traditional currencies and digital assets.

Powered by Aptos and Daya

The Aptos Foundation is supporting the corridor as the ecosystem partner, helping to facilitate cost-efficient transaction execution on the Aptos blockchain.

Daya will serve as the African payment infrastructure partner, providing compliant local currency connectivity through its proprietary smart-routing technology designed to maximize liquidity across African markets. Its infrastructure includes virtual accounts, payment APIs, SWIFT capabilities, and local settlement services.

Together, the partners plan a two-phase rollout. Initially, multinational companies will be able to fund local payments by converting local currency into stablecoins at one end of the corridor and back into fiat currency at the destination. The long-term objective is to establish a scalable B2B trade settlement network where stablecoins act as the primary settlement asset.

Expanding HashKey’s Asia Connect Network

According to Paul Joe of Daya, Africa has emerged as a leader in stablecoin adoption, but has lacked the regulated infrastructure and liquidity needed to connect regional demand to global markets.

The new corridor also marks the expansion of HashKey’s Asia Connect network into Africa. Since its launch in 2025 with a corridor connecting Hong Kong and the Philippines, the network has expanded across Southeast Asia through partnerships in Vietnam and other markets, before extending into the Middle East via HashKey MENA.

The Africa corridor further strengthens the network’s vision of creating a compliant, efficient, and low-cost framework for cross-border transfers and seamless conversion between stablecoins and local currencies.

By combining regulated digital asset infrastructure with established payment rails, the initiative could help accelerate trade and financial connectivity between African economies and the Middle East while maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.

//Staff writer