Kiln powers stablecoin earn product for MiniPay users on Celo, targeting 1.3B unbanked globally
< BlogToday, Kiln takes the next step in expanding access by launching an app inside MiniPay—the stablecoin wallet built on Celo—for users to earn yield on their USDT directly from the wallet, without leaving the MiniPay ecosystem. MiniPay, one of the most widely adopted non-custodial wallets in emerging markets, is offering millions of users a simple way to save and transact with dollar-denominated stablecoins. MiniPay is built exclusively on Celo, leveraging the Ethereum Layer 2's fast, low-cost transactions with real-world utility. With over 700K DAUs, Celo is the fastest growing chain for USDT - and the newest addition to Kiln's supported networks.
Access to savings accounts
Stablecoins have become a critical financial tool across Latin America, Africa, and other developing regions. For millions of users globally, dollar-backed stablecoins provide protection against local currency volatility, enable low-cost cross-border transfers, and offer a more accessible alternative to traditional banking.
According to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 report, 1.3 billion adults globally remain unbanked, underscoring the continued need for accessible financial tools.
In Nigeria, where inflation reached 14% by late 2025, stablecoins offer crucial protection for everyday users looking to preserve their savings. Across Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa, millions use MiniPay as a cheaper and more accessible alternative to preserve wealth and send money locally and globally.
As adoption grows, so does demand for safe and simple ways to earn yield on stablecoins. Rather than letting assets sit idle, users increasingly want opportunities to grow their savings onchain, without sacrificing self-custody or ease of use.
Recognizing this shift, Kiln partnered with MiniPay to introduce the first stablecoin earn product within the Mini Apps ecosystem.
Kiln Widget: first earn experience within MiniPay
At launch, the Kiln Mini App lets you earn rewards on your USDT via Aave on Celo, with the flexibility to deposit or withdraw your funds at any time.
“MiniPay was designed to make DeFi accessible to everyone, everywhere. By launching our first earn Mini App with Kiln, we’re moving beyond simple payments to give our 13 million users a direct path to move from wealth preservation with USDT to wealth creation—all without compromising on self-custody or simplicity. Kiln’s institutional-grade infrastructure allows us to bring this new dimension of stablecoin utility to our global ecosystem with the speed of a mobile app”. — Murray Spark, Head of Commercial and Partnerships at MiniPay
"We’re excited to partner with MiniPay as they launch their first earn Mini App. At Kiln, our goal is to help wallets and fintechs easily bring onchain yield to their users, and MiniPay is a great example of that mission in action. By powering MiniPay’s earn experience, we’re enabling users to put idle stablecoins to work directly from the wallet, while MiniPay retains full control of the user experience." — Laszlo Szabo, CEO of Kiln
“MiniPay has brought seamless stablecoin payments, savings, and spending to over 13 million users worldwide, and now with Kiln’s Mini App launch, global users can access powerful DeFi tooling. Unlocking stablecoin yield on MiniPay with intuitive, user-friendly tooling is a step forward in the Celo ecosystem’s mission to make crypto useful for anyone, anywhere with a mobile device. We’re proud to support Kiln and MiniPay’s efforts as they leverage Celo’s fast, low-cost transactions and stablecoin gas payments for real-world impact.” — Michael Kwan, Celo Foundation DeFi Lead.
Proven infrastructure at scale
Building DeFi integrations from scratch is complex, especially when prioritizing security, scalability, and user experience. Each protocol comes with its own smart contracts, risk parameters, and maintenance requirements.
Kiln brings proven infrastructure to MiniPay users – with over $500 million in TVL across leading retail wallets, Kiln has demonstrated both market demand and operational reliability at scale. By adding Kiln Widget to their mini app marketplace, MiniPay was able to:
- Integrate a battle-tested DeFi infrastructure with audited smart contracts
- Introduce a seamless, wallet-native user experience
- Ship future-proof earn functionality without heavy protocol-level development
As a mini app, Kiln Widget handles the technical and operational complexity of DeFi integrations while operating within MiniPay's marketplace, giving users direct access to yield without MiniPay needing to build and maintain protocol connections themselves.
A new way to save and grow wealth
The MiniPay earn Mini App is designed to remain true to MiniPay’s core principles: simplicity, accessibility, and self-custody.
Users benefit from:
- One-tap deposits and withdrawals directly from MiniPay
- Non-custodial access, users remain in full control of their assets
- Onchain transparency, with all transactions visible on the Celo blockchain
- No external apps or complex DeFi workflows required
For many users, this represents a first introduction to DeFi — abstracted into a familiar and easy-to-use experience.
About MiniPay
MiniPay is a non-custodial stablecoin wallet built on the Celo blockchain and offered by Blueboard Limited, an Opera company with over 13 million activations across 60+ countries globally. MiniPay is designed to make digital finance accessible, affordable, and user-friendly – especially across emerging markets. Available as a standalone Android and iOS app, or as integrated into the Opera Mini browser, MiniPay enables users to send, receive, and save stablecoins like cUSD, USDC, and USDT with sub-cent fees, no gas management, and a phone number-linked experience. Since its launch in 2023, MiniPay has expanded to over 60 countries and surpassed 10 million activated wallets, making it one of the fastest -growing stablecoin wallets globally. Learn more at www.minipay.xyz.
Disclaimer
As a non-custodial stablecoin wallet, MiniPay exclusively enables individual users to initiate on- chain P2P stablecoin transfers. Through integrations with our third-party partners, however, the MiniPay ecosystem also enables users to discover a rich array of additional services provided by such third parties including on-ramp/off-ramp, top-up, or payment services. MiniPay itself does not facilitate or provide any form of exchange services, payment services, or remittances. Any and all references to such functionality indicates the availability of third-party services discoverable within the MiniPay ecosystem.
About Kiln
Kiln is the leading institutional onchain asset and yield management platform, enabling institutions to generate yield on their digital assets and empower their users with direct access to onchain yield. In 2025, Kiln surpassed $18 billion in assets delegated, providing access to diverse yield sources across 30+ PoS networks – from native staking to DeFi strategies.
Trusted by industry leaders including VanEck, CoinShares, Crypto.com, Fireblocks, Ledger, Coinbase, and Binance.US, Kiln offers a comprehensive suite of yield products with real-time reporting and monetization tools. The platform enables custodians, wallets, exchanges, and asset managers to streamline onchain asset management operations across multiple providers and protocols. Kiln is SOC 2 Type II compliant.
About Celo
Celo is an Ethereum Layer-2 and mobile-first blockchain network built for the real world and designed for fast, low-cost payments worldwide. The Celo ecosystem consists of a decentralized, proof-of-stake blockchain technology stack, the CELO native token, USDC and USDT (both enabled as gas currencies), several Mento stable assets (USDm, EURm, REALm, XOFm), and popular infrastructure including Aave, Uniswap V3, Curve, Velodrome, and Chainlink. Launched on Earth Day in 2020, the open-source Celo mainnet supports a rich ecosystem of projects (1,000+) contributing to Celo’s global mission of prosperity for all. For more about Celo, visit https://celo.org/.
About Kiln
Kiln is the leading staking and digital asset rewards management platform, enabling institutional customers to earn rewards on their digital assets, or to whitelabel earning functionality into their products. Kiln runs validators on all major PoS blockchains, with over $11 billion in crypto assets being programmatically staked and running over 5% of the Ethereum network on a multi-client, multi-cloud, and multi-region infrastructure. Kiln also provides a validator-agnostic suite of products for fully automated deployment of validators and reporting and commission management, enabling custodians, wallets, and exchanges to streamline staking or DeFi operations across providers. Kiln is SOC2 Type 2 certified.
