Yellow Card Raises $40M to Expand Bank Stablecoin Links

Yellow Card Raises $40M to Expand Bank Stablecoin Links

Quick Reads

• Yellow Card raised $40 million in strategic equity funding from investors including SC Ventures and Polychain Capital.
• The round pushes Yellow Card’s total equity financing above $120 million since its founding in 2016.
• The company’s valuation now sits above its 2022 mark of $200 million, though still under $1 billion.
• Yellow Card plans to expand its Global USD Accounts product into Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
• CEO Chris Maurice says banks will soon move dollars directly onchain, bypassing traditional payment intermediaries.

Yellow Card raises $40M in strategic equity funding as it doubles down on linking commercial banks to stablecoin payment rails. The African fintech now counts SC Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital, and Blockchain Capital among its backers. Meanwhile, CoinDesk first reported the details of this funding round. The fresh capital brings Yellow Card’s total equity financing past $120 million since the company launched in 2016. Its valuation has climbed well above the $200 million mark it held in 2022. However, it remains short of unicorn status. Neither Yellow Card nor its investors have confirmed the exact figure publicly.

CEO Chris Maurice believes banks are moving toward a future where payments settle directly onchain. He told the outlet that middlemen like traditional B2B payment processors will eventually disappear from the flow. Maurice co-founded Yellow Card with Justin Poiroux to challenge legacy networks such as Swift. Swift still processes millions of daily transactions worldwide. Additionally, Swift itself began testing blockchain rails last month, signalling how fast the industry is shifting.

Initially, Yellow Card started operations in Africa before expanding into other emerging markets worldwide. It will use the new funding to grow its Global USD Accounts product further. The company also plans to add stablecoin and local payment options across Latin America and Asia-Pacific. So far, Yellow Card has facilitated more than $10 billion in transactions across 22 licensed jurisdictions. Its flows have historically split evenly between corporates and financial institutions, but bank volumes are now accelerating fastest.