Since it launched in September 2023, Opera Mini’s MiniPay app has attracted over three million users.
Major technology firm Opera confirmed upgrading the crypto wallet on its mobile browser Opera Mini by incorporating the biggest stablecoins on the market, Circle’s USDC and Tether USDT.
MiniPay, a stablecoin-based self-custodial wallet integrated into Opera Mini, is rolling out Pockets, This new feature enables one-click swaps between the Celo dollar (cUSD) and the newly integrated stablecoins.
With Pockets, MiniPay users can readily switch between USDC, USDT, and cUSD with “sub-cent fees and no hidden costs” with a drag-and-drop motion, as highlighted in an announcement published on July 3.
The executive vice president (EVP) of Mobile at Opera, told reporters:
“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.”
Many Wallet Consumers Are Worried About High Transaction Fees
Introduced in September 2023, MiniPay is powered by the Celo blockchain and uses Mento’s stablecoin cUSD, which is connected to the value of the US dollar. The wallet extension was originally rolled out in Africa to enable local nations to end and receive stablecoins using a mobile number.
Arnsen explained that the lack of fixed internet access and increased internet costs made them discover the massive potential of blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer solutions within the continent. He added:
“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) incorporated into the wallet. This page is ideally designed to organize many native dApps, enabling users to enjoy direct access to tools like savings applications, Universal Basic Income protocols, and games.
MiniPay Sees Massive Growth In Africa
Since its launch in 2023, MiniPay has seen more than three million wallet activations across Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, becoming one of the quickest-growing digital wallets on the African continent.
Opera Mobile EVP Arnsen mentioned that Africa has long been a mobile-first continent with a young population and massive smartphone adoption. He highlighted:
“Today, Opera Mini is the most downloaded mobile browser in Africa with nearly 100 million users.”
Africa has been rapidly emerging as a continent with massive interest in crypto. Since it has one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations globally, Africa has massive potential for digital asset adoption.
Based on sources such as BitcoinAfrica.io, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ghana, are ranked as the top five African nations adopting Bitcoin as of 2023.
One-Click Drag & Swap
The MiniPay V2 has introduced Pockets, a new feature developed in conjunction with the EVM-compatible stablecoin platform Mento Labs.
This feature supports “one-click swaps” between three stablecoins. In addition to cUSD, this wallet integrated USDT and USDC aiming to increase its adoption rate.
On that note, USDT and USDC represent at least 85% of the cumulative stablecoin market. They have a massive existing user base in nations around Africa. Thus, adding the two majorly popular stablecoins enables new use cases to be developed and simplifies onboarding.
Extra benefits include offering users increased flexibility and access to this category of digital assets, and a widespread network of on- and off-ramp providers to increase the cash-in and out options.
As a result, users can readily and quickly switch or swap between USDC, cUSD, and USDT by “dragging from one pot and dropping into another.”
This is supported via the new ‘Drag & Swap’ functionality, enabling users to readily drag one pocket into another.
The fees are “sub-cent,” and no hidden costs are involved.
Developers behind it remarked that Pockets will enhance digital currency management while delivering on Mini Pay’s commitment to making Web3 solutions readily accessible to all.
Mento Labs CEO Markus Franke said:
“MiniPay Pockets enable seamless transactions with stablecoins to onboard users to the digital economy.”
