Coinbase, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it has established a strategic partnership with the cryptocurrency exchange Yellow Card. The collaboration aims to expand access to Coinbase's products in emerging economies, starting with 20 countries in Africa.
Coinbase Partners with Yellow Card to Expand in Africa
Starting in February, the partnership will enable more than half of Africa's population to purchase USDC through the Coinbase Wallet app.
Additionally, app users will be able to send stablecoins free of charge via email and popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp, iMessage and Telegram.
Yellow Card users will also have the opportunity to purchase USDC through Base, an Ethereum layer 2 developed by Coinbase and known for its cost-effective transactions.
In an official blog post, Coinbase emphasized that most of the countries targeted by this initiative have high inflation and are remittance dependent.
Focusing on USDC, the partnership aims to increase economic freedom in regions that lack it and help build a modern financial system where none existed before.
Yellow Card, a Coinbase portfolio company, announced a $1.5 million seed round in August 2020, which included contributions from Polychain Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Celo Ecosystem Fund.
In September 2022, Yellow Card secured a $40 million Series B funding round led by Polychain, following a $15 million Series A the previous year.
*This is not investment advice.