Diving deeper into this news, I've gone through the PR and articles related to IOTA becoming the underlying infra for Africa's onchain economy.
Here's a breakdown of why this is the biggest news of this year.
A bit of context:
Most people (including myself) don't realize this, but African countries trade very little with each other.
Intra-African trade sits at ~15-16%.
The same metric stands at 70% for the EU.
Why does this matter?
Because when Africa exports raw materials and imports the finished products, the real value is generated outside the continent.
Cocoa (as well as oil, minerals...) is harvested in Africa → but the money is made in Europe.
That's where regional trade plays a key role. Shorter routes, fewer currency issues, better resilience, and 1.5B people as a home market to serve.
However, this doesn't happen because, as in DeFi, Africa is fragmented.
55 countries, each with its own language, infrastructure, and processes.
This is where ADAPT comes in, the "AfCFTA's Digital Access and Public Infrastructure for Trade Initiative".
Think of it as the digital backbone for continental trade.
It's backed by @AfCFTA, the @wef, @InstituteGC, multiple national agencies, and leverages IOTA as the core ledger.
ADAPT's system spans three pillars:
1️⃣ Digital ID → Decentralized ID tied into national ID systems
2️⃣ Cross-Border Data Exchange → Smart contracts, verified logistics, tamper-proof documentation
3️⃣ Finance Layer → Banks unified into a single system, leveraging stablecoins for transacting
Bottom line: Every shipment, certificate, document, and payment sits on one shared, trustworthy digital infrastructure.
Why is this bullish for crypto?
Because it's real adoption:
• Millions of cross-border transactions → all onchain
• Tokenized trade documents, consignments, invoices → real collateral + real yield
• Stablecoin payments
• A blockchain, @IOTA in this case, becomes the economic rail for an entire continent
Furthermore, because these assets will be issued natively on IOTA rather than wrapped across chains, we’ll finally see how DeFi composability and onchain capital formation can actually enhance assets and, in this case, impact the economy of a whole continent.
To conclude, this is the first time a public chain has been adopted at this scale by governments and institutions, and it comes with two significant tailwinds:
It positions IOTA as one of the most compelling RWA and enterprise-focused blockchains.
It boosts the whole crypto industry's reputation.

Wouldn't have expected to say it, but IOTA made one of the biggest moves in crypto's history lol.
Their infra is being used by @AfCFTA, @wef, and @InstituteGC to run a trade platform for the whole African continent.
A blockchain used by 50+ countries to:
- Tokenize invoices
- Tokenize assets
- Track shipments
- Enable stablecoin payment
All this will lead to tens (if not hundreds) of billions of new value and saved costs generated, which will likely spark the attention of other regions as well.
It'll also be very interesting to see what other countries and continents will do, particularly the European Union, as Africa took the first step.
Props to the IOTA team as well for pulling such a big move.
Now they're literally the economic infrastructure for an entire continent.
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