The stablecoin remittance app Yousend has formally launched in the UK and Canada following a private beta in which it processed over $1m in transactions using referral-only growth.
The company, built on stablecoin settlement rails, has secured regulatory approvals from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, FINTRAC in Canada and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Remittance apps are used specifically to send money across borders, usually from an expatriate or migrant worker to family back home.
YouSend’s core infrastructure uses stablecoin settlement to replace the pre-funded float model that underlies most legacy remittance services. Stablecoin settlement is the process of using digital assets on a blockchain to clear and finalise financial transactions.
A payment initiated at a traditional bank must pass through clearing networks, central bank accounts and correspondent banking relationships before reaching the final account. This process can take days, especially for international transfers, and is limited by standard banking hours.
Stablecoin settlement executes directly on a decentralised blockchain network. When parties transact using stablecoins, the transfer of digital assets from one digital wallet to another represents the immediate transfer of value.
Yousend now reports an average settlement time of under 15 seconds across more than 10k processed transactions. The app also offers 24/7 live human customer support, addressing a common pain point among African diaspora communities who are often left navigating automated responses if transfers go wrong.
Backers of the company include Digital Currency Group, CMT Ventures, Blockwall, CoinSwitch Ventures and Musha Ventures, as well as angel investor Pule Taukobong.
The target corridor is also well-documented. The Africa remittance market received over $104bn in 2024, according to the World Bank. Nigeria alone received $19.8bn, representing 35% of Sub-Saharan Africa's total inflows.
UK-to-Africa is among the most significant outbound corridors globally. The UK international remittance market reached $11.46bn in 2024 and is forecasted to grow at an annual rate of 2.2% between 2026-2028.
Despite the scale of the market, the average cost of transferring money from the UK to Africa via mobile applications ranges from 5% to 9% depending on the provider type, with digital-first platforms at the lower end and bank transfers at the upper.
“The prefunded float model has made cross-border remittance slow and expensive for decades. Stablecoin settlement changes the physics of the problem,” says Yousend cofounder Adeoye Ojo.
“I first understood this problem in 2016, routing a payment from San Francisco to Kenya through Bitcoin because nothing else worked fast enough,” he adds. “I spent the next decade building a regulated solution.”
Ojo positions YouSend as more than just a remittance app. "The infrastructure is built from inside the diaspora community it serves rather than a product simply marketed toward it."
"Cross-border remittances remain one of the strongest real-world applications for stablecoins," adds Pratyush Shah, head of investments at CoinSwitch Ventures. "YouSend combines regulatory credibility with a clear focus on speed, reliability and customer experience, all critical to building enduring financial infrastructure."
The Yousend app is now available for download on the App Store and Google Play, with transactions live from the UK and Canada to Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania. EU and US send capability are scheduled to follow in the coming months. Learn more at yousend.co.
