Zug, Switzerland, May 12th, 2026, Chainwire
As part of a broader initiative to expand access to essential banking infrastructure across Africa, Cantor8 has revealed plans to bring leading mobile money systems such as M-PESA and EVC Plus onchain via Yiksi Limited.
The partnership serves as a crucial pilot for a broader rollout across additional African nations and mobile money ecosystems, demonstrating how onchain digital money infrastructure can scale across the continent.
Mobile Money Infrastructure and Blockchain Integration
These platforms are vital for financial inclusion and economic activity in mobile-first ecosystems where traditional bank penetration, around 15% in Somalia, remains low due to physical and documentation barriers.
Migrating these systems to blockchain networks like the Canton offers a significant opportunity to enhance interoperability, settlement efficiency, and global connectivity. This evolution, in turn, provides users with a fully integrated digital financial system that bypasses conventional infrastructure.
Despite access challenges, ongoing innovation in digital onboarding continues to reduce barriers, scaling payments and remittances across these emerging markets.
The Need for Digital Money in African Economies
To understand the impact of digital money and mobile-based transfer systems like M-PESA and EVC Plus, it helps to first understand the regions in which they operate and have seen widespread adoption.
At the core, three key factors have driven the success of these systems in emerging economies like Somalia and Kenya:
Limited-to-non-existent access to reliable banking infrastructure. A high degree of mobile phone access and competence. Unworkable local currencies.The Banking Gap
Cantor8 aims to bridge this gap by integrating secure digital infrastructure and modernizing mobile connectivity.
The firm is targeting similar inclusion gaps in Kenya, where M-PESA dominates but rural barriers persist. By deploying mobile-first technology, Cantor8 intends to scale financial access and integrate these emerging markets into a cohesive digital ecosystem.
Nonviable Local Currencies
Somalia and Kenya are increasingly pivoting toward mobile-first financial systems to navigate structural economic challenges.
In Somalia, decades of central banking limitations and counterfeit Somali Shilling (SOS) circulation have driven a market shift toward the US Dollar and mobile money for stability.
Kenya’s Shilling (KES) remains more integrated into global markets, though its debt profile reflects heavy infrastructure investment. Despite macroeconomic pressures, Kenya continues to lead in digital innovation, utilizing mobile platforms to deepen economic participation.
Together, both nations demonstrate a move away from physical cash toward digital foundations, clearly setting the stage for next-generation payment infrastructure and improved fiscal stability across East Africa.
Mobile-Native Populations
Together, these metrics provide a robust foundation for next-generation digital payment infrastructure across East Africa’s most connected populations.
The Rise of Digital Money
The aforementioned factors create the perfect conditions for a financial system that is (a) denoted in USD, (b) immediately accessible through mobile devices, and (c) provides similar functionality to bank accounts, to flourish.
Enter Canton Network & Cantor8
By leveraging Cantor8’s cutting edge infrastructure components, such as its C8 Registry token issuance engine, mobile money systems like M-PESA and EVC Plus can be brought directly onto blockchain rails - Canton Network specifically.
In doing so, said mobile money gains access to both the advantages brought by blockchain generally, and those that only Canton Network can deliver.
Instant Settlement
Blockchain rails are able to provide atomic settlement on transactions, meaning transfers and other actions are settled instantly, all in one single transaction. This entirely eliminates the aforementioned ‘in-transit’ risk and dramatically reduces the operational burden placed on mobile money providers.
No settlement gap. No extractive middlemen. More efficient money.
Compliant Privacy
To meet compliance standards, the network generates tamper-proof audit trails accessible only to authorized regulators and auditors. Integrating M-PESA and EVC Plus onto Canton’s rails allows users to maintain total financial privacy while enabling seamless, foolproof oversight for authorities.
Interoperability
Canton operates a so-called ‘network-of-networks’ where differing institutions operate and maintain their own blockchain ledgers, ensuring privacy is maintained, while the network’s key interoperability component (The Global Synchronizer) allows for these separate networks to interact seamlessly.
In the case of mobile money, users will be able to put their funds to use in different countries and at different merchants, without undertaking lengthy and high-risk conversation processes.
Banking Africa
Through an interoperable system of mobile money platforms, users will be able to leverage the stability of the US Dollar, seamlessly use and transfer their funds across borders, and much more.
The end goal of Cantor8’s initiative is to create a seamless pan-African payments system that remedies inequalities around banking infrastructure and creates a more interconnected and efficient African economy. This is just the beginning.
About Cantor8
Co-Founder & Chief Marketing OfficerReni AchkarCantor8
