African crypto exchange Yellow Card closes $15M Series A

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African cryptocurrency exchange Yellow Card has concluded a $15 million Series A financing round led by some of blockchain’s biggest venture funds, underscoring the growth potential of digital assets on the continent.

The fundraiser, which was described as the largest ever by any African cryptocurrency exchange, will enable Yellow Card to scale its operations across Africa and onboard new talent, the company announced Monday. The Series A came roughly one year after Yellow Card successfully raised $1.5 million from various investors.

The investment round was led by Valar Ventures, Third Price and Castle Island Ventures with additional participation from Square, Inc., Blockchain.com Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, BlockFi, MoonPay and others.

Yellow Pay launched in 2018 in Nigeria before expanding its operations across the continent. Its headquarters are currently listed as Atlanta, Georgia, though the company’s main focus appears to be creating a pan-Africa cryptocurrency platform.

Africa continues to be a major source of growth for the cryptocurrency market as locals find novel ways to combat inflation, stringent foreign exchange policies and capital controls. Peer-to-peer trading platforms such as Paxful registered significant growth in Nigeria after the central bank moved to block remittances in the local naira currency. As Cointelegraph reported, Nigerian crypto exchange Quidax reported more than $3.2 billion in lifetime transactions as of May, underscoring the rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country.

Unlike many advanced industrialized economies, where crypto plays an important role as an investable asset class, users in the so-called global south increasingly view Bitcoin (BTC) as a vehicle for savings, remittances and even transactions. According to a new report from analytics firm Chainalysis, BTC adoption in Africa surged 1,200% over the past year.