With stablecoins enjoying a massive surge globally – and a virtual explosion in Africa driven by the need for efficient cross-border payments, remittances, and a hedge against economic volatility – Mesh.trade has launched South Africa’s first yield-bearing digital rand, yZAR.
Pegged at 1:1 to the South African rand, Connie Bloem, co-founder and MD of Mesh.trade, says the yZAR stablecoin is a bridge to the future of investing and will change the way money moves.
“yZAR allows users to earn daily yield, which is paid monthly into their accounts, so yield can be earned on idle funds without sacrificing liquidity,” Bloem explains. “This capability helps position South African investors at the forefront of the continent’s digital finance evolution.”
Key features of yZAR include the daily yield accrual paid monthly, free to transfer between spending (mZAR) and earning (yZAR), instant utility, a yield-earning rate aligned to SA money markets through appointed providers, low-friction access and institutional oversight through a bankruptcy-remote structure, monthly third-party audits, and FSP-licensed operations.
Market capitalisation of stablecoins reached $251,7-billion by the middle of this year – and more than $5,7-trillion in transactions were processed in 2024. In Q1 2025 alone, stablecoins experienced a sharp 66% spike in volume.
And the story is no different in Africa, says Bloem.
Nigeria and South Africa are considered to be at the helm of stablecoin adoption on the continent. As of this year, Chanalysis says stablecoins account for 43% of cryptocurrency transaction volumes in sub-Saharan Africa. This growth is propelled by numerous factors including high inflation rates, currency volatility and – in the broader African context – instant transfers in the remittance sector.
“South Africa is a burgeoning hub where regulatory advancements and innovative and compliant businesses are leveraging stablecoins to bridge the gap between the crypto world and the traditional finance ecosystem,” says Bloem.
This is critical, she adds, because stablecoins sit on the leading edge of innovations in the investing ecosystem. Consider the global statistics on stablecoin usage by purpose, she says: decentralised finance (DeFi) and trading dominate stablecoin activity, making up 67% of total usage, with remittances representing 15%, hedging against instability accounts for 10% of stablecoin usage, 5% is in the gradual adoption of stablecoins for merchant payments, and a further 3% for all other uses.
Bloem says that when designing products, it is critical to make investing simpler and open to more people.
As such, she explains that it was important to ensure there are no fees to swap between mZAR (a fully collateralised South African ZAR stablecoin) and yZAR – and no lockups, which means instant utility for investments or bank cash-outs.
“It was crucial that we addressed the so-called drag of non-earning balances in fast-moving markets,” says Bloem. “yZAR is more than a stablecoin – it’s wiser money for a digital age.”