Coinbase taps African economies for USDC transactions with Yellow Card

Coinbase has partnered with Yellow Card to enable seamless USDC transactions across 20 African nations. Through a blog post, Coinbase says the expansion gives users in these economies access to USDC directly on its wallet app, starting in February. Coinbase adds:

Through the Coinbase Ventures portfolio entity Yellow Card, users can purchase USDC on Base, a Coinbase-incubated Ethereum L2, much more efficiently and cost-effectively. Through an X post, Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice says stablecoins like USDC address real problems facing people and businesses in Africa.

The partnership is significant as Yellow Card has users in 20 African countries, accounting for more than half of the continent’s population. The economies likely to benefit from the Coinbase expansion are South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Aligns with Coinbase’s global expansion and Africa’s potential

Africa’s expansion reinforces Coinbase’s continued global push, in line with its declared “go broad and go deep” approach. The exchange has focused on an expansion informed by compliance and partnerships, avoiding the pitfalls of its peers facing regulatory pressures globally.

Coinbase acknowledges Africa as a potential market, with frequent inflation and instability calling for innovative financial solutions. The exchange says the expansion increases financial freedoms, supporting Africa’s remittance-dependent economies, increasing savings, and supporting everyday commerce.

Africa’s young population is also an attraction to Coinbase, with the exchange stating that seven in every ten crypto owners are below 34 years. Consequently, Coinbase says Africa is the youngest continent, making it an ideal market for its crypto expansion.