In the ever-shifting landscape of African fintech and global cryptocurrency, two projects—Canza Finance and Mutuum Finance—are drawing significant attention for their rapid growth and ambitious visions. Both have recently reported remarkable milestones, reflecting not only investor enthusiasm but also the broader momentum behind decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions aimed squarely at longstanding inefficiencies in cross-border payments and digital lending.
On January 6, 2026, Canza Finance, a pan-African decentralized financial network, announced it had surpassed $131 million in cumulative transaction volume on the Aptos blockchain. According to CMC Labs and GlobeNewswire, this figure represents a staggering 300% increase from the previous quarter—a leap that underscores both the pent-up demand for efficient cross-border services in Africa and the trust businesses and individuals are placing in Canza’s offerings. The company’s CEO, Pascal Ntsama, put it succinctly: “Surpassing this volume is a testament to the trust our community has placed in us. We are not just building a platform; we are empowering thousands of businesses and individuals across Africa to participate in the global economy on their own terms.”
Canza’s impressive growth is rooted in its initial peer-to-peer (P2P) and business-to-business (B2B) forex services, which are facilitated via the Aptos network. The company also leverages USDT stablecoin market making and on-chain OTC settlements, making it a meaningful solution to Africa’s persistent cross-border payment challenges. As GlobeNewswire notes, the regional average cost to send money in Africa remains high at 8.9%—a figure Canza aims to slash by leveraging blockchain infrastructure, with transaction fees on Aptos averaging less than $0.0008.
But the milestone is only part of the story. Canza used the occasion to unveil its next-generation Canza Autonomous Payment Protocol (CAPP), a multi-agent AI system designed to eliminate the friction points that have long plagued African finance. CAPP’s goals are ambitious: reduce payment processing costs by up to 90%, achieve transaction fees closer to 1%, and cut settlement times from days to under a minute. Perhaps most crucially, CAPP aims to unify Africa’s notoriously fragmented mobile money ecosystem—comprised of 156 isolated services—through “Mobile Money Bridge Agents,” ensuring universal inclusion for over 400 million unbanked Africans who rely solely on feature phones.
Corey Sheft-Tannenbaum, head of investments at Aptos Foundation, praised Canza’s approach, stating, “Canza’s milestone underscores a simple truth: Legacy payment rails cannot support the scale or speed African businesses need. Their growth shows what’s possible when innovative teams pair deep market expertise with world-class technology.”
Canza’s vision aligns with broader trends in African fintech. According to GlobeNewswire, African blockchain companies raised $474 million in 2022—a 429% year-on-year increase and the highest growth rate globally. Founded in 2019 by Pascal Ntsama and Oyedeji Oluwoye, Canza Finance has attracted $5.5 million in investment from prominent backers such as Polychain Capital, Protocol Labs, and Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund. The company’s product suite extends beyond payments, with its Baki exchange enabling businesses to trade African currencies against dollar stablecoins at official central bank rates.
The scale of the opportunity is immense. Africa’s mobile money ecosystem handled $562 billion in transactions in 2020, and cross-border payments on the continent are projected to reach $1 trillion by 2035. By leveraging blockchain and AI, Canza intends to capture a significant share of this growth, offering a seamless, cost-effective alternative to legacy systems notorious for their high costs, slow settlements, and fragmented access.
Meanwhile, on the global cryptocurrency stage, Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is making waves with its decentralized lending and borrowing protocol. As reported by GlobeNewswire on January 7, 2026, Mutuum has seen its token price soar by 300% since the presale began in early 2025, climbing from $0.01 in Phase 1 to $0.04 in Phase 7. The project’s presale structure is stage-based, with each phase featuring a fixed token price and allocation. When a phase sells out, the price steps up, creating a sense of urgency for investors eager to lock in lower prices before the next jump.
Mutuum Finance has raised $19.6 million during its presale, attracting over 18,750 holders and selling approximately 825 million tokens. The project’s official launch price is set at $0.06, meaning early participants stand to realize substantial gains—up to 500% for those who bought in at the lowest price. The presale also features card payment access, simplifying the onboarding process for non-crypto-native investors, and a 24-hour leaderboard that rewards the top daily contributor with $500 in MUTM tokens.
Security and transparency are central to Mutuum’s approach. The project has undergone an independent audit by Halborn Security and boasts a CertiK token scan score of 90/100, along with a $50,000 bug bounty for code vulnerabilities. Its V1 protocol, set to launch on the Sepolia testnet, will initially support ETH and USDT lending and borrowing, with plans to expand asset support as the project matures.
Mutuum’s value proposition extends beyond price appreciation. Its “Buyback and Distribute Mechanism” uses protocol fees to purchase tokens on the open market, which are then distributed to stakers—offering passive income without inflating the token supply. The protocol also supports peer-to-peer lending, allowing users to lend and borrow directly from each other, with lenders enjoying an 18% annual ROI. As the project’s testnet launch approaches, anticipation is building for what many see as the next major cryptocurrency to watch in 2026.
It’s worth noting that Mutuum’s rise comes as some established cryptocurrencies face headwinds. Ripple (XRP), for example, has declined by 38% toward late 2025, trading at $1.87 as of early January 2026. According to Cryptopolitan, “whales”—large investors—are shifting funds from XRP to newer projects like MUTM, seeking greater utility and technological innovation.
Both Canza Finance and Mutuum Finance are emblematic of a broader shift toward decentralized, technology-driven solutions in global finance. Canza’s focus on solving Africa’s cross-border payment bottlenecks and Mutuum’s drive to reimagine lending and borrowing protocols reflect the diverse ways in which blockchain and AI are being harnessed to address real-world challenges. As these projects continue to scale, the coming months will reveal whether their bold promises can deliver lasting impact for users across Africa and beyond.
