Yellow Card, a leading stablecoin payments infrastructure provider, has announced its major global expansion into key markets including Argentina, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and Colombia. The move is supported by the release of the company's latest report, "Stablecoin Adoption In Emerging Markets."

"Our success in Africa created the blueprint for our global expansion," said Chris Maurice, CEO and Co-Founder of Yellow Card.

 "The financial friction businesses face, from currency devaluation to unreliable liquidity, isn't a regional issue; it's a universal one. We are now deploying that proven model to provide the essential financial rails businesses everywhere need to thrive."

The comprehensive report analyzes the key drivers and infrastructure shaping digital finance across Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. It finds that unlike in Western nations, stablecoin adoption in these regions is fueled by urgent, practical needs.

“The report showcases real-world applications, such as facilitating cross-border trade, transforming insurance, and aiding businesses with treasury management in volatile economies. It also details the rapid growth of stablecoin transactions, surpassing Visa and Mastercard in 2024.

 Furthermore, it outlines key players like Yellow Card, the underlying technology, and future trends, emphasising stablecoins as a fundamental tool for financial stability and efficiency,” says Lasbery Chioma Oludimu, VP of Global Operations and MD of Yellow Card Nigeria.

Yellow Card, who solidified themselves as the largest licensed stablecoin infrastructure provider, with a presence in 20 countries, has already released two incredibly successful reports this year: Data Protection in Africa and The State of Digital Assets Regulation in Africa. 

Their most recent report on stablecoins highlights that businesses in emerging markets are not adopting stablecoins because of a passion for blockchain, but because of businesses prerogative to survive unpredictable economic environments.

Key Data-Driven Insights from the Report:
The annual transaction value of stablecoins has hit $15.6 trillion.

Regions like Central/Southern Asia, Africa, and Latin America dominate the 2024 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, with India and Nigeria ranked 1st and 2nd.

In Argentina, 61.8% of crypto transactions involved stablecoins as a direct response to soaring inflation, a figure significantly higher than the global average.

Stablecoins now account for 43% of total crypto transaction volume in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria alone processed nearly $22 billion in stablecoin transactions between July 2023 and June 2024.

Stablecoins represent 99% of Yellow Card’s business, with some of the top business use cases being: trading and treasury management, purchasing goods, making business payments and cross-border payments.

The report further explores the technological shift towards low-cost, high-speed blockchain networks and details growing institutional adoption from major corporations and partnerships with fintechs and banks.

The full report, "Stablecoin Adoption In Emerging Markets," is available for download on the Yellow Card website.

About Yellow Card

Yellow Card is the largest licensed stablecoin-based infrastructure provider operating in 20 African countries and the emerging markets. 

Our mission is to make it easy for businesses of all sizes to make international payments, protect their financial assets, manage their treasury function, and access hard currency liquidity. Leveraging the power of stablecoins pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar (e.g. USDC, USDT, and PYUSD), we deliver our innovative solutions through our commercial trading function, our B2B products (i.e. our payments API and “widget”), and our retail and small business platform.

Since launching our first product in Nigeria in 2019, we have generated volumes of almost US$6 billion, 99% of which is attributable to stablecoins. We employ over 200 individuals from 24 countries and we have completed US$85 million in equity financings.