# MiniPay Update Q3 2026 **URL:** \ **Category:** Ecosystem\ **Tags:** governance, funding\ **Created:** [October 20, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://forum.celo.org/t/minipay-update-q3-2026/13926 "2026-10-20T16:19:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![opera\_minipay](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.celo.org/opera_minipay/32/8794_2.png) [@opera\_minipay](https://forum.celo.org/u/opera_minipay)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://forum.celo.org/t/minipay-update-q3-2026/13926/1 "2026-10-20T16:19:53Z")
Every quarter, the question we ask is the same: how do we make MiniPay feel more commonplace for the jobs our users need to do? In Q3, the answer was mostly the steps around the money: verifying again for every partner, paying in places a dollar balance couldn’t reach, learning where an app should exist before it does. This update covers what we removed, what users did with the room that left, and what three years of MiniPay told us about where it goes next. ## **📊 By the Numbers (since launch)** - **20 Million+ total wallet activations** - **600 Million+ transactions processed** - **$2.3 Billion+ in processed volume** - **70+ countries** - **77 Mini Apps live** - **386K $CELO transferred to Opera users in Q3** - **4.78M $CELO staked** ## **Three Years, 20 Million Wallets** ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/celo/original/2X/5/5caa3b80cc27a8ded5d519e558cd7bf064566f4c.jpeg) September made it officially three years since we launched MiniPay. For our third anniversary, we asked users what MiniPay had actually done for them. Over 14,620 people wrote back. ## **[![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/celo/original/2X/a/a5b500f7aca8dce3c111a6ad03975b99517bf503.jpeg)](https://youtu.be/4hwerjYXNYE)** The answers were about global workers getting paid, school fees, rent, food, and the friend who needed money in an emergency and got it in seconds. Users wrote about receiving money from abroad through their own account, and about not stressing when something urgent came up. That is the product working as intended: invisible infrastructure behind ordinary moments. What users did during the campaign tells the same story. We put selected Mini Apps in front of users alongside the anniversary content, and across those apps average transactions grew 72%, average volume grew 85%, and average active users grew 26%. Buy Gold volume rose from $485K to $658K in the campaign weeks, and the Buy CELO Mini App more than doubled its transactions (+127%) as 41% more wallets bought in. ## **Major Milestones** ### **Verify Once, Use Everywhere** ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/celo/original/2X/6/6fc611c6bcb531bc0df0c9968b47373882042cde.jpeg) MiniPay is self-custodial, so we have never verified users ourselves. Through integrated partners, users get on/off-ramps, the Visa card, local payments and more. Until now, each partner ran its own KYC check. A user who verified to deposit had to upload the same ID and take the same selfie again to get a card, and again to cash out through a different provider. This quarter we took the first step toward fixing that. MiniPay became the first live integrator of Sumsub’s Reusable KYC Gateway. Users verify once, consent to link that identity to their wallet, and supported partners in the MiniPay ecosystem can be unlocked with a single tap. MiniPay never touches or stores the documents. The results showed up fast. Users on the new flow are completing verification and getting access to additional features in considerably less time. ### **The MiniPay Card: One Card, Two Very Different Habits** A quarter after launch, we have a clearer picture of how people actually use the MiniPay Card, and the patterns split along geography. In Europe, the card has become an everyday card. Groceries, restaurants, transport: small, frequent purchases from a stablecoin balance, tapped through Apple Pay and Google Pay like any other debit card. Across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, the card fills a different gap. Spend clusters around software, developer tools, cloud services and online subscriptions, the global services that run on card payments and that local cards are often declined for. A developer in Lagos paying for hosting, a designer in Rio renewing creative software, a freelancer in Manila covering the tools they need to get paid. ### **Putting the 160M $CELO Grant to Work** In Q3, Opera distributed around **386,000 $CELO** to Opera users through CELO Rewards program, live across Opera for Android, Opera Mini and Opera News. Rewards go to genuinely engaged users. To qualify, users browse daily, keep Opera Mini up to date, set it as their default browser, and have MiniPay enabled. Each of those actions is a signal of real, ongoing use, and the last one means every reward lands with someone who already has a stablecoin wallet ready to hold it. The program turns everyday browsing into a path onchain: users earn $CELO for what they already do, into a wallet that’s already set up, without ever deciding to “get into crypto.” For Celo, it means a growing base of token holders. ## **Ecosystem: 77 Mini Apps and Counting** ### **Sonny Pay: Pay Like a Local Across Southeast Asia and LATAM** In Southeast Asia, daily spending runs through QR codes. Street food, market stalls, taxis, shops: you scan, you pay, you go. For anyone holding dollars, that system has always been closed. You need a local bank account, a local wallet, and usually a local ID. Sonny Pay, a new Mini App in MiniPay, removes all three. MiniPay users can now scan a local QR code in the Philippines , Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, and Peru, and pay directly from their dollar stablecoin balance. The merchant receives local currency through the payment network they already use. For the travelers, nomads and remote workers who already hold their earnings in MiniPay, a dollar balance now works at any QR-accepting merchant in the region. For people living in Southeast Asia, saving in dollars no longer means giving up the way they pay every day. ### **Saluto: 50,000 Language Learners in One Week** Saluto brings language practice directly into MiniPay, starting with English and Spanish lessons, guided by its mascot Salu. It launched in September, and in its first week more than 50,000 users started learning. Most apps spend their first year chasing their first 50,000 users. Saluto reached them in seven days, without building its own onboarding, payments or user acquisition. That is what MiniPay as a distribution layer looks like in practice. It also fits who MiniPay is increasingly built for: people whose lives cross borders. The freelancer taking on clients abroad, the family preparing to relocate, the student planning to study overseas. Getting paid in dollars was the first barrier we helped remove. Language is often the next one. ## **You Asked, We Listened** Some of the best product direction comes from this forum. A few questions from our last two updates: **[“Can you publish a wishlist of Mini App categories you want built?”](https://forum.celo.org/t/minipay-update-q1-2026/13273/2)** _The categories that perform best in MiniPay are the ones tied to everyday money: bill payments, savings, local payments, microwork, and utilities. Builders can already pressure-test ideas with[Celopedia](https://celopedia.celo.org/), Celo’s AI builder toolkit, which can brainstorm Mini App ideas and assess how well they fit MiniPay. When you’re ready, the[MiniPay developer docs](https://docs.minipay.xyz/) cover everything from scaffolding to[submitting your Mini App](https://docs.minipay.xyz/getting-started/submit-your-miniapp.html)._ **[“Can I move CELO and USDT from Kraken to MiniPay?”](https://forum.celo.org/t/minipay-update-q1-2026/13273/6)** _Yes. With[cross-chain deposits](https://minipay.to/blog/cross-chain-deposits-in-minipay), powered by Daimo, you can bring assets from 10+ chains and thousands of tokens from other wallets and exchanges straight into MiniPay._ **[“Will active users be rewarded?”](https://forum.celo.org/t/minipay-update-q2-2026/13664/5)** _They already are.[MiniPay Boost](https://minipay.to/blog/minipay-boost-earn-daily-rewards-on-your-savings) rewards users every day for holding USDT and using MiniPay, paid daily in USDT. There’s nothing to sign up for or lock up. Rewards are based on your balance and your wallet activity, so the more you use MiniPay, the more Boost you earn._ _Spending is rewarded too. Every qualifying[MiniPay Card](https://minipay.to/blog/minipay-card-cashback-rules) purchase earns up to 5% cashback, paid in Tether Gold or stablecoins._ ## **On the Ground: TOKEN2049 Singapore** Just after the quarter closed, the team was at TOKEN2049 Singapore, where Sumsub unveiled the Reusable KYC Gateway with MiniPay as its first live integrator. ## **🔜 What’s Ahead for Q4** - 💳 Expand the availability of the MiniPay card to more markets. - 🪙 Roll out USA₮ support in MiniPay - 🌍 Product efforts to strengthen MiniPay position as the Global Money App ## **A note to builders** MiniPay continues to be a distribution layer for stablecoin-powered apps, now reaching 20 million wallets across 70+ countries. If you’re building something grounded in real life, we’d love to help you reach the users who need it. [Get Started](https://developer.minipay.to/mini-app-listing) ## **Thank you** To everyone using MiniPay, building with it, asking hard questions on this forum, or just watching where we go next: thank you. Three years in, the most useful thing a wallet can do is get out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![Prezenti.grants](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.celo.org/prezenti.grants/32/9493_2.png) [@Prezenti.grants](https://forum.celo.org/u/Prezenti.grants)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://forum.celo.org/t/minipay-update-q3-2026/13926/2 "2026-10-20T19:06:33Z")
Love to see it! Amazing work! ---
**Author:** ![benibauer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.celo.org/benibauer/32/12236_2.png) [@benibauer](https://forum.celo.org/u/benibauer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://forum.celo.org/t/minipay-update-q3-2026/13926/3 "2026-10-21T18:02:16Z")
Congrats to the MiniPay team on three years and 20M+ wallets! What stands out to me is how much of this quarter was about removing friction instead of adding features. Looking forward to keep growing the Celo ecosystem. Great work, team! ---
**Author:** ![lennoxbokole](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.celo.org/lennoxbokole/32/12277_2.png) [@lennoxbokole](https://forum.celo.org/u/lennoxbokole)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 3:23pm UTC](https://forum.celo.org/t/minipay-update-q3-2026/13926/4 "2026-10-22T15:23:11Z")
Thanks minipay for 20 yrs