As regulatory clarity improves, incumbents will move into crypto, and some will buy their way in. African founders should position themselves for those exits.

The global market already has examples. We've seen Stripe pay $1.1 billion for Bridge and Mastercard agree to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion. Both companies had products that larger companies would rather buy than build. There's also the all-important matter of the expertise that comes with those acquisitions.

Evolution's acquisition by Nuvion offers an early African example. According to Nuvion's Oluwatimilehin Oluwasanmi, it was primarily an acqui-hire. Nuvion wanted his expertise, so it bought his company.