Cantor8 has announced plans to bring major African mobile money systems onchain through exclusive memoranda of understanding with Yiksi Limited.
The initiative focuses on M-PESA and EVC Plus, two widely used mobile money services in East Africa, and would use blockchain rails connected to the Canton Network to support direct conversion between digital money services and crypto.
According to the announcement, Cantor8 will work with Taran App, an African fintech platform, and Yiksi, Taran App’s cryptocurrency exchange. Cantor8 plans to use Taran App’s infrastructure to support the proposed integration of M-PESA and EVC Plus onto Canton-based rails.
The partnership is being positioned as an initial pilot for a broader rollout across additional African markets and mobile money ecosystems. Kenya and Somalia are the two early markets highlighted in the release, reflecting the role mobile-first financial services already play in both economies.
The case for the project is rooted in the limits of traditional banking access. In Somalia, the release cites formal banking penetration at around 15%, with branch scarcity and documentation requirements creating barriers for many users. Services such as EVC Plus have helped fill that gap, turning mobile money into a core part of daily financial activity.
Kenya presents a different but related opportunity. M-PESA remains central to the country’s digital finance landscape, extending financial access beyond the reach of conventional banking infrastructure. The announcement also points to high mobile penetration in both Kenya and Somalia as a foundation for wider digital payment adoption.
For Cantor8, the proposed integration is about connecting existing mobile-first payment systems to blockchain infrastructure built for settlement, interoperability, and privacy. The company says its product suite includes C8 Registry, a token issuance engine, alongside private transfer infrastructure, custody tools, settlement systems, self-custody wallet solutions, and bespoke Canton development services.
The Canton Network is central to the proposed design. Canton is built around privacy-preserving financial workflows, allowing institutions to operate separate ledgers while coordinating activity through the Global Synchronizer. In practical terms, that means different applications and institutions can interact without every participant exposing full transaction data to the wider network.
Applied to mobile money, the release argues that Canton-based rails could improve settlement efficiency, cross-border interoperability, and global connectivity while preserving the privacy controls required for financial use cases.
The announcement also frames the opportunity around three structural factors in East African markets: limited banking infrastructure, high mobile usage, and pressure on local currencies. In Somalia, it points to the role of the U.S. dollar and mobile money in response to issues around the Somali shilling. In Kenya, it highlights the continued importance of mobile platforms in expanding financial participation.
Cantor8’s stated aim is to support a more connected digital payments system across African markets by linking mobile money platforms to blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. If the pilot advances, the model could be extended to additional countries and mobile money providers.
For Canton, the announcement adds another use case to a growing set of financial infrastructure applications. The focus is not token speculation, but payments, settlement, interoperability, and privacy-led financial rails in markets where mobile money is already deeply embedded.
