African crypto exchange Yellow Card closes $ 15 million Series A

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The Yellow Card African cryptocurrency exchange has closed a $ 15 million Series A fundraiser led by some of the largest blockchain venture capital funds, highlighting the potential for growth in digital assets on the continent.

The fundraiser, which has been described as the largest ever by an African cryptocurrency exchange, will allow Yellow Card to expand operations across Africa and welcome new talent, the company. Series A came about a 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 was launched in 2018 in Nigeria before expanding its operations across the continent. Its headquarters are currently listed as Atlanta, Georgia, although the main focus of the company appears to be the creation of a pan-African cryptocurrency platform.

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

Related: Africa’s Crypto Market Has Grown Over 1,200% Since 2020: Chainalysis

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. BTC adoption in Africa has jumped 1,200% in the past year, according to a new report from analytics firm Chainalysis.

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