AgriDex, a Solana-based agricultural market, says it has processed greater than $9 million in stablecoin-powered trades as far as it seeks to convey blockchain funds to the $2.7 trillion international agricultural market.
The milestone comes after a $1.5 million cross-border deal in grain and fertilizer was accomplished on the platform by African agricultural commodity buying and selling agency Graintrade, protecting Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa, AgriDex informed The Defiant.
“Agricultural companies throughout Africa are constrained by inefficiencies, which tie up working capital and erode margins. By enabling prompt, low-cost settlement, AgriDex offers producers and merchants in growing markets like Africa the assistance they should develop,” stated Henry Duckworth, AgriDex’s CEO.
Settled in Circle’s USDC stablecoin, the commerce skipped the standard three- to five-day banking delays and excessive banking charges that include customary cross-border funds. Graintrade CFO Morkel van Tonder stated the flexibility to maneuver $1.5 million the identical day “is transformative for regional agri-trade.”
Talking with The Defiant, Duckworth defined that farmers and merchants “don’t want any prior expertise with crypto to make use of the platform,” including that from their perspective, it’s a “easy commerce platform the place they’ll commerce and settle immediately in stablecoins, with out having to work together with technical blockchain processes.”
On-Chain Agriculture
Primarily based in London, AgriDex affords companies throughout seven African markets, together with Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Nigeria, and Mauritius. Whereas Africa is AgriDex’s major focus immediately, the corporate can be getting ready to increase into Latin America and Central Asia, with rollouts deliberate to start in Q2 2026, Duckworth revealed.
“Each areas face related challenges round cross-border commerce, excessive charges, and gradual settlement, so we see sturdy potential to duplicate our mannequin there,” he defined.
This isn’t AgriDex’s solely on-chain commerce. In July 2024, the platform additionally executed a commerce on Solana, protecting the cargo of greater than 200 bottles of olive oil and instances of wine from South Africa to London.
Past executing trades in stablecoins, Duckworth says the platform supplies assist for “hedging in opposition to fluctuations in native African currencies by providing yielding stablecoin accounts.” AgriDex’s CEO defined:
“This offers merchants a dependable dollar-backed choice to protect worth, whereas nonetheless enabling them to handle liquidity wants throughout a number of currencies.”
In December 2024, AgriDex raised $4 million in a strategic funding spherical led by Portal Ventures. The funding concerned fairness and token investments and gave the Solana-based startup a post-money valuation of $28.5 million.
