The US-based giant cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has partnered with African stablecoin exchange Yellow Card, a Coinbase portfolio company, to expand access to its products in emerging economies, starting with 20 countries on the continent.
Over Half of Africa’s Population to Gain Access to USDC
As part of the collaboration, starting from February, more than half of the African population will gain access to USD Coin (USDC) through the Coinbase Wallet app. In addition, the app will allow users to send stablecoins for free via email and popular messaging applications such as WhatsApp, iMessage, and Telegram. Furthermore, Yellow Card users will be able to purchase USDC through Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network funded by Coinbase, which offers cheaper transactions.
In a post on Coinbase’s official blog, it was stated that “Most of these countries suffer from high inflation and have a high interest in money transfers. This collaboration, which emphasizes USDC, will increase economic freedom in regions that lack it and will help establish a modern financial system where none exists.”
Yellow Card had announced a $1.5 million funding round in August 2020, which included investors like Polychain Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Celo Ecosystem Fund. Additionally, a $40 million Series B funding round led by Polychain was announced in September 2022, following the previous year’s $15 million Series A funding round.
Coinbase’s International Expansion
The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s partnership with Yellow Card is part of its “Expand, Deepen” strategy, which focuses on international expansion in a compliant manner.
The cryptocurrency exchange most recently announced plans last week to acquire a MiFID-licensed entity to expand its derivatives offerings in the European Union. Currently, Coinbase only offers spot cryptocurrency trading in the European Union, and such a license would be significant as it would pave the way for offering crypto-based derivatives in Europe.
In 2023, Coinbase expanded its international scope for institutions outside the US with spot trading. Coinbase Global, the international arm of Coinbase, began offering derivatives trading to institutional clients outside the US last year.
