USDC in Africa: Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has joined hands with Africa's Yellow Card to extend the reach of its offerings to an additional 20 African nations. The collaboration primarily aims to augment access to the USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin currently valued at $1.00.

In a statement issued on January 11, Coinbase articulated that the alliance aims to propel the evolution of financial transactions by enabling millions of users to utilise USDC for swift, cost-effective operations. This functionality will be facilitated through both Coinbase and Yellow Card platforms.

Chris Maurice, the CEO of Yellow Card, elaborated to Cointelegraph that the partnership entails the integration of Yellow Card's payment infrastructure in Africa. This integration will empower customers to seamlessly convert fiat currency into Bitcoin (BTC) and USDC, which operates on Ethereum's layer 2 rollup Base.

African users will access this feature through the Coinbase Wallet, which has recently added a novel capability allowing transfers via links across various social media platforms, including iMessage, Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.

Beyond USDC, Maurice indicated that additional cryptocurrencies and stablecoins endorsed by Coinbase will be incorporated into the system. Yellow Card currently operates in 20 countries, encompassing nations such as Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Brining financial sustainability

Coinbase said that many of these markets showcase characteristics such as high inflation rates and dependency on remittances. Consequently, the partnership aspires to introduce a more financially sustainable method of conducting transactions in these regions. The exchange further highlighted that Africa stands as the continent with the youngest demographic profile globally, underscoring the potential for economic development.

Chris Maurice expressed confidence that this collaboration will streamline commerce for numerous Africans, asserting, "Stablecoins like USDC address tangible challenges faced by individuals and businesses across the continent."

Highlighting prevalent use cases, Maurice noted that cryptocurrencies serve as a practical solution for international payments, remittances, and safeguarding assets against inflationary pressures. Data from BitcoinAfrica.io reveals that South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ghana lead in Bitcoin adoption within the African continent.

The Central African Republic initially embraced Bitcoin as a legal tender. However, this initiative was curtailed when the government launched its cryptocurrency, Sango Coin, shortly after enacting the Bitcoin legislation.