Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange has announced its alliance with Yellow Card, an African stablecoin exchange. The exchange aims to diversify its access to its products in emerging economies starting with 20 nations of the continent.
The crypto exchange founded by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam aims to begin offering the purchase of stablecoin USDC via Coinbase Wallet app, likely by early February. It further aims to enable users to send stablecoins using renowned messaging applications such as email, WhatApp, Telegram and few others.
It is important to note that Coinbase claims that after the successful start in Feb, it will allow users to send stablecoins using messaging apps without any transaction fee. However, the user of Yellow Card can also buy USDC on Base, which is a Coinbase-incubated Ethereum Layer 2, that facilitates cheaper transitions.
In its recent blog Coinbase wrote that “Many of these nations are facing high inflation and remittance-dependent,” it further added that “The alliance with Yellow Card and its emphasis on USDC will increase economic freedom in places that have lacked it, and help stand up a modern financial system where one hasn’t existed.”
Funding Rounds and Partnership of Yellow Card
Yellow Card began its journey in 2020, when it secured $1.5 Million in the seed funding round, backed by Polychain Capital, Andreesen Horowitz and others. It further expanded its roots in the African market and raised $15 Million in Series A funding round majorly led by Castle Island Ventures, Third Prime and Valar Ventures.
Despite these major investors, some others such as Pat Duffy, Fabric Ventures, Alex Wilson, Keiretsu Capital, DG Daiwa ventures and Jon Weiner have invested specific amounts since seed funding to the Series B funding round.
In the second last month of 2023, Yellow Card grabbed the opportunity to become the first African exchange to launch PayPal USD, a stablecoin, solely issued by Paxos.
A detailed Chainalysis report for 2020-2021 states that crypto adoption in African nations is constantly surging. Ghanans, Nigerians, and South Africans are leading the crypto movement, adopting Bitcoin, stablecoins, and other cryptocurrencies instead of traditional banking services.
Crypto Market Overview
The market capitalization of the entire crypto industry declined around 1.21% in the past 24 hours, when writing it was $1.70 Trillion. BTC slipped 1.56% and as of writing it was trading at $46,170.
Ethereum (ETC) has shown major improvement in the past few days. when composing this article, it was trading at $2,650.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions stated by the author or any people named in this article are for informational ideas only and do not establish financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto or stock comes with a risk of financial loss.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2024/01/12/coinbase-partners-yellow-card-eyeing-flourishing-africas-market/