Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has announced a new partnership with Yellow Card, a leading African fintech company. The collaboration aims to expand access to Coinbase's products and services across 20 African countries.
According to TechPoint, the focus is on increasing the accessibility of the USD Coin stablecoin.
Empowering African Economies
Cointelegraph noted that Coinbase and Yellow Card are poised to revolutionize Africa's financial landscape with this partnership. By integrating Yellow Card's payment rails in Africa, Coinbase customers can seamlessly convert fiat currency to Bitcoin (BTC) and USD Coin on the Ethereum layer 2 rollup Base.
This game-changing integration will be accessible to African users through Coinbase Wallet. Notably, Coinbase Wallet recently implemented a new feature allowing transfers via links from popular social media platforms such as iMessage, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
Coinbase acknowledges the economic challenges many African countries face, including high inflation rates and dependency on remittances. The partnership with Yellow Card is expected to offer a more economically viable solution for transactions in the region.
Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice emphasizes the potential impact of stablecoins like USD Coin. In his statement, he points out that stablecoins solve real-world problems for African individuals and businesses. International payments, sending money to friends and family, and protecting against inflation are identified as the most common use cases in the region.
Enhancing Accessibility and Commerce
By expanding its presence in Africa, Coinbase seeks to make cryptocurrency more accessible to a broader population. Yellow Card's existing operations in 20 countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania, will play a crucial role in this mission.
Furthermore, the partnership enables the integration of various cryptocurrencies and stablecoins supported by Coinbase. This comprehensive offering will provide Africans with diverse digital assets for their financial needs.
South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ghana have emerged as the top five African countries adopting Bitcoin, according to BitcoinAfrica.io. The Central African Republic became the first African nation to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender. However, this decision was later followed by the introduction of the government's crypto token project, Sango Coin.
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