Stablecoins are having a big moment in Nigeria and even across Africa. The IMF estimates that Nigeria has accounted for roughly 60% of stablecoin inflows into Sub-Saharan Africa since 2019. Businesses and households are using them for everything from cross-border transfers to paying overseas suppliers.
But growing adoption raises an important question: are stablecoins safe enough for businesses to hold and use? The short answer is that stablecoins can be useful, but “stable” does not mean risk-free.
Before your business holds USDT or uses it for payments, you need to understand what keeps its value stable and what could go wrong.
Why Nigerian Businesses Are Using Stablecoins
The growth of stablecoins in Nigeria is difficult to ignore. According to reports, Nigeria has received over $100 billion in crypto-asset inflows in the past 4 years. The country also ranked sixth globally in Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index. More importantly for businesses, the IMF says stablecoins are being used to pay overseas suppliers and make cross-border payments. Demand has also been influenced by naira depreciation, inflation and constrained access to foreign exchange.
So, for many businesses, holding USDT is less about crypto speculation and more about solving everyday payment problems.
What Backs Stablecoins and How Safe Are They?
Not all stablecoins work the same way. USDT is issued by Tether and is designed to maintain a value of about US$1. Its stability depends largely on the assets held in reserve against tokens in circulation. That distinction matters.
The US Federal Reserve reported in April 2026 that stablecoins with safer and more liquid reserves showed stronger adoption during 2025. However, it also warned that stablecoins still introduce financial stability risks as their use for payments grows. For businesses, the lesson is simple: don’t judge a stablecoin by its name. Look at what backs it such as:
- Scale on its side: USDT is the world’s largest stablecoin and has maintained widespread use across crypto trading and international payments. However, size does not remove risk.
- Reserve and transparency: Tether publishes independent attestations of its reserves, but an attestation is not the same as a full financial audit.
- Liquidity risk: In late 2025, S&P Global lowered its assessment of USDT’s ability to maintain its dollar peg, pointing to increased exposure to assets such as Bitcoin, gold and secured loans, alongside transparency concerns.
That does not mean USDT is automatically unsafe. Instead, it shows why businesses should understand the asset behind their payments rather than treating one USDT as identical to one dollar sitting in a bank account.
5 Stablecoin Risks Businesses Should Check
Before holding USDT or another stablecoin for business purposes, look beyond the exchange rate.
- Reserve risk: Check what assets actually back the stablecoin and how liquid those reserves are.
- Depegging risk: A stablecoin can temporarily trade above or below its intended $1 value during market stress.
- Issuer risk: Holding a fiat-backed stablecoin means relying on the company managing its reserves and redemptions.
- Regulatory risk: Stablecoin rules continue to evolve across Nigeria and other markets where your business may operate.
- Operational risk: Sending USDT to the wrong wallet or through an incompatible blockchain network can result in lost funds.
For businesses, stablecoin safety therefore goes beyond choosing USDT or USDC. How you acquire, store and move those assets matters too. Because Nigeria’s approach to digital assets has also evolved and for businesses, compliance should therefore be part of the payment decision, not an afterthought.
The real question shouldn’t be whether stablecoins are completely safe. No payment method or financial asset comes without risk. The better question is whether your business understands those risks and has the right infrastructure to manage them.
That’s why we built Zabira Business to help businesses manage cross-border payments and stablecoin-powered transactions without having to build the infrastructure themselves. Through our business payment solutions and API, companies can simplify international payments while building stablecoins into their existing workflows.
As stablecoins become a bigger part of global commerce, understanding how to use them responsibly will matter just as much as accessing them. Speak with the Zabira Business team to book a demo and see how our payment infrastructure can support your business.
