Ripple backs Flutterwave’s Series E at $3.2B valuation to scale RLUSD stablecoin rails in Africa

Ripple has taken a strategic stake in Flutterwave as part of the African payments company’s Series E round, which values Flutterwave at $3.2 billion. The deal anchors Ripple’s USD-denominated stablecoin RLUSD, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ripple Payments directly into Flutterwave’s payment stack across Nigeria and the wider continent.

The integration is the latest step in Flutterwave’s multi-year stablecoin roadmap, shifting its cross-border settlement architecture to a stablecoin-first model. RLUSD will be embedded as a primary settlement asset across Flutterwave’s payment rails and its Send App remittance corridors, with XRPL used for faster transaction clearing and a unified API linking Flutterwave’s domestic network to Ripple Payments.

By combining local cards, mobile wallets and bank transfers with Ripple’s enterprise blockchain infrastructure, the partners aim to compress multi-day settlement windows and reduce FX friction for African cross-border flows. The stack is designed to offer guaranteed liquidity, more predictable pricing and real-time settlement for high-volume channels serving SMEs and global enterprises operating in and out of Africa.

“Flutterwave has built one of the most advanced payments networks in Africa, and as its infrastructure evolves, stablecoins are becoming central to that story,” said Reece Merrick, Managing Director, MEA at Ripple. “Our investment will establish RLUSD within that infrastructure, with Flutterwave driving stablecoin flows over the XRPL and deepening its role as a settlement layer for real-world payments across the continent.”

Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said: “This investment marks a pivotal moment in our journey, enabling us to significantly scale our infrastructure and expand our stablecoin-enabled payments roadmap. By unlocking faster settlement and lower-cost cross-border payments, we are building a payment superhighway that connects African commerce directly to the global economy.”

Flutterwave has raised over $500 million to date and processed more than one billion transactions worth over $50 billion, giving Ripple an immediate distribution channel for RLUSD-backed flows into African markets. The deal tightens the linkage between traditional payment methods and on-chain settlement in a region where regulatory frameworks for digital assets are still evolving, and positions Nigeria as a key hub for stablecoin-based trade and settlement in the continent’s digital economy.