Buy a Licensed Company 
Explore VASP Data 
Talk to an Expert 
Bonniey Josef
Bonniey is a Psychologist and Crypto Copywriter with extensive experience in writing content that educates and entertains.
How Does Digital Currency Work? A Business Guide To Crypto, Stablecoins, and CBDCs
Digital currency is any money that exists only electronically, covering three main types: cryptocurrencies (no issuer), stablecoins (pegged to assets like the dollar), and CBDCs (issued by central banks). In Nigeria, stablecoins moved nearly $22 billion in a year while the eNaira, a CBDC, remained largely unused despite launching in 2021.
I asked Google how digital currency works, and the AI overview result talks about Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is a digital currency, but it is just one form.
Digital currency stretches so much wider. Stablecoins and digital cash issued by central banks are also digital currencies.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, Nigeria moved nearly $22 billion in stablecoins, according to Yellow Card’s 2025 stablecoin report. This made it the largest stablecoin market. On the other hand, the state-issued option went largely unused.
What is digital currency?
Digital currency is any money that exists only in electronic form. It lives on computer systems and moves between accounts or wallets online. So it is more than just Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.
Three major types of digital currencies matter to businesses:
- Cryptocurrencies: digital currencies that run without an issuer
- Stablecoins: digital currencies that peg their value to something steady, like the dollar.
- Central bank digital currency: issued by a central bank.
The types of digital currency your business will encounter
1. Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies are a by-product of blockchain technology. A scattered network of computers verifies and records transactions on a shared ledger that no single company or bank controls. Bitcoin is the simplest and most popular example.
Many popular economists, like Eswar Prasad, argue that even one of cryptocurrency’s original attractions, anonymity, has weakened. Bitcoin transactions leave a digital trail that can eventually be connected to real identities, especially when people use it to buy real goods and services.
As Prasad puts it, “anonymity is not the big draw of Bitcoin anymore.” Bitcoin, he argues, has instead become mostly a speculative asset.
A National Cryptocurrency Association survey of 619 US merchants, run by Harris Poll in October 2025 and summarized by the US Chamber in July 2026, found 88% had been asked about crypto, 39% already accepted it, and almost 85% expected it to be common in the next 5 years.
As a business owner, you can say yes to that demand without holding the volatility on your own balance sheet by making use of stablecoins
2. Stablecoins
A stablecoin holds a steady price because it is pegged to something else, usually the US Dollar. The issuer holds reserves equal to what’s in circulation and lets you redeem your coins for the real asset at face value; that backing is what keeps the price from moving
Yellow Card reported nearly $22 billion in Nigerian stablecoin transactions between July 2023 and June 2024. Chainalysis put Nigeria near $59 billion in total crypto volume over the same window in its 2024 Geography report.
Yellow Card put stablecoins near 43% of volume across sub-Saharan Africa, as the Naira losing value pushed people toward dollar rails.
USDT and USDC are the most widely used stablecoins. A Naira coin called cNGN, launched on licensed Nigerian exchanges in February 2025, now gives local teams a regulated Naira rail to test.
So a Lagos studio billing London can invoice in dollars, receive USDT the same day, and convert when the rate suits.
3. CBDCs: Central Bank Digital Currencies
A central bank digital currency is digital cash from a central bank. One unit equals one unit of the national currency, settled on central bank systems.
The eNaira launched on 25 October 2021 as Africa’s first retail CBDC at one eNaira to one Naira, according to Reuters and Central Bank announcements at launch. Nearly five years later, the numbers aren’t looking good.
The IMF found 0.5% of Nigerians used it within a year, and 98.5% of roughly 13 million eNaira wallets created were never used in a typical week.
Its 2024 Article IV staff report counted about 13 million wallets, most dormant, and 854,512 transactions worth 29.3 billion Naira since launch. Central Bank data for March 2024 put eNaira near 14 billion Naira against 3.87 trillion in circulation, about 0.36%.
In an August 2022 Legit.ng street interview, several Lagos traders said they had not heard of it or saw no reason to switch from regular bank apps.
A particular trader, Bolanle Badru, said, “I am quite educated. I do not know if any such thing as e-Naira exists. I make use of mobile money transfer a lot. When my bank app is not working due to internet issues, I use my bank’s USSD. But you see this eNaira, I don’t know what it is.”
All that compared with the stablecoin performance. About 29.3 billion Naira in eNaira payments across three years, against nearly $22 billion in stablecoin volume in 12 months. Clearly, Nigerians chose.
Other African countries have also experimented with CBDCs. Ghana tried something similar with the eCedi, although it has not launched it nationwide.
The Bank of Ghana ran a four-month pilot in 2022 across Accra, Tarkwa and Sefwi Asafo. Its online pilot involved 2,750 people testing peer-to-peer transfers, merchant payments, bill payments and other transactions.
The pilot eventually processed more than 96,000 transactions worth GH₵473 million.
Ghana also tested using the eCedi without an internet connection. An offline pilot in Sefwi Asafo was designed to see whether people in areas with poor telecommunications infrastructure could still make digital payments in much the same way they use physical cash.
But unlike Nigeria, Ghana has not released the eCedi nationwide
Which type should your business pay attention to?
Start with the job you need done, not whichever is getting the most attention.
First, stablecoins for settlement: billing across borders, holding dollar value between paydays, and paying remote staff. You can convert on your schedule since the price is stable and records remain clean.
Next, treat cryptocurrency as acceptance plus instant conversion. Keep your pricing in fiat, accept the coin where customers ask, and settle back to local currency or stablecoins on receipt.
Finally, treat CBDCs as domestic certainty where they function. Support eNaira if agencies or customers ask. Do not build cross-border plans on it.
That leaves one final question. What should receive, convert, and reconcile funds received in digital currency?.
A payment gateway handles the hard parts
You can connect through the crypto and stablecoin payment API for wallets, confirmation, screening, auto conversion, and webhooks.
Breet is a crypto payment gateway that settles in Naira and Cedis through stablecoin rails. For your business, this means fiat settlement lands automatically, and your team never holds a volatile coin and loses money.
Over 100 verified businesses already run on Breet, covering more than 3 million transactions with 99.9% uptime.
The market already voted. Has your business?
Digital currency comes in three major variants. In Nigeria, one of them clearly won.
State-controlled cash, in the form of CBDCs, sits mostly idle and unused, while stablecoins moved tens of billions because they provided a way to protect people from Naira volatility while also providing a pathway to cheap and fast cross-border payments.
If you collect across borders, hold value through volatility, or pay people in several countries, start with stablecoins and settle to Naira or Cedis automatically through Breet business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between digital currency and cryptocurrency?
Digital currency is the wider set: any money that exists only electronically. Cryptocurrency is one type within it, secured by a public network with no issuer. Stablecoins and CBDCs count as digital currency but not as cryptocurrency in that strict sense.
What is the eNaira and does anyone use it?
The eNaira is Nigeria’s retail CBDC, launched in October 2021 at one-to-one with the Naira. Use stays low. The IMF found 0.5 percent of Nigerians used it in year one, about 13 million wallets existed by 2024 with most dormant, and Central Bank data put it well under one percent of currency in circulation in March 2024.
How does cryptocurrency work for business?
Price in fiat, accept the coin, and convert on receipt through Breet, which confirms the chain payment, screens risk, and settles fiat to your bank with webhook notification. You keep the sale without the swings, and your books stay in Naira or Cedis.
Are stablecoins safe for cross-border payments?
They cut price risk but keep issuer, reserve, and policy risk. A business reduces that risk by holding widely used coins, reconciling each payout to an invoice, and locking large sums through an OTC desk instead of leaving balances exposed.
