Coinbase has entered into a strategic partnership with Yellow Card, a move aimed at expanding access to its cryptocurrency products across 20 African countries. The primary focus of this collaboration is to enhance accessibility to the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin. In a statement released on January 11, Coinbase expressed its commitment to shaping the future of financial transactions by providing millions of users with access to USDC and facilitating fast, reliable, and cost-effective transactions through both Coinbase and Yellow Card products.
Yellow Card and Coinbase Join Forces to Broaden USDC Reach in Africa
As part of the partnership, Coinbase will integrate Yellow Card’s payment infrastructure in Africa, allowing customers to seamlessly convert fiat currency to Bitcoin (BTC) and USDC on the Ethereum layer-2 rollup Base. The accessibility will extend to African users through the Coinbase Wallet, which recently introduced a new feature enabling transfers via links on popular social media platforms such as iMessage, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice emphasized that, in addition to USDC, other cryptocurrencies and stablecoins supported by Coinbase would also be integrated.
Yellow Card operates in 20 countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania. Coinbase recognizes that many of these nations face high inflation rates and rely heavily on remittances. The partnership with Yellow Card is seen as an opportunity to provide a more economically viable method of conducting transactions in these regions.
Highlighting the economic potential and the younger demographic in Africa, Coinbase stated, ‘Many of these markets also are in need of economic opportunity for populations that skew younger than average.’ Chris Maurice is optimistic that the collaboration will simplify commerce for numerous Africans, emphasizing the practical solutions that stablecoins like USDC offer to individuals and businesses on the continent.
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