Coinbase, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, has announced a strategic partnership with Yellow Card, an African crypto fintech company, aimed at expanding the availability of its services across 20 African countries, with a particular focus on enhancing access to the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin.
On Jan. 11, Coinbase revealed that this collaboration will facilitate a more streamlined process for its African customers to convert between fiat currency and cryptocurrencies, including USDC. The partnership involves integrating Yellow Card’s payment infrastructure within Africa into Coinbase’s system, allowing users to seamlessly transition between fiat and digital assets.
As per Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice, the integration will enable African users to effectively use Coinbase Wallet for on-ramping and off-ramping fiat to Bitcoin and USDC on Ethereum’s layer-2 rollup, Base. This feature will be accessible via the Coinbase Wallet, which recently added a function allowing transfers through links on various social media platforms like iMessage, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
Maurice also indicated that along with USDC, other cryptocurrencies and stablecoins supported by Coinbase would be integrated into the service.
Yellow Card operates in 20 African nations, including Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania. Coinbase highlighted the significant potential of this partnership in regions plagued by high inflation and heavy reliance on remittances, offering a more economically viable transaction method.
Coinbase emphasized the youthful demographics of the African continent and the need for economic opportunities in these regions, asserting that Africa is “by far” the youngest continent.
Maurice expressed confidence that this partnership would facilitate easier commerce across the continent. He emphasized the practicality of stablecoins like USDC in addressing real challenges faced by individuals and businesses in Africa.
In a region where common crypto use cases include international payments, remittance, and protection against inflation, this partnership between Coinbase and Yellow Card is seen as a significant step in leveraging cryptocurrency to overcome banking and currency challenges in Africa.