Stablecoins Find Practical Demand Across African Markets, Says Yellow Card CEO

Stablecoins in many African markets are being used to move and hold money, not just to trade on price swings. Chris Maurice, co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Yellow Card, says businesses and individuals turn to dollar-linked tokens to manage local currency risk, make international payments and obtain hard currency. That practical demand, in his view, is the reason crypto adoption across the continent is often misunderstood from outside it.

The pattern differs from markets where crypto conversation centers on investment. Maurice says more than 95% of Yellow Card’s activity is converting between local fiat currencies and stablecoins. Tokens such as USDT, USDC and PYUSD dominate that flow. Bitcoin and other assets attract attention during price rallies, but stablecoins are the persistent use case because they address everyday constraints in business payments and treasury management.

The demand also reflects the structure of regional commerce. Countries next to one another can use different currencies and banking systems, with limited interoperability for cross-border transfers. Stablecoins can provide a shared settlement layer, Maurice argues, particularly where a conventional wire is difficult or a business needs to pay for imports. For local transactions, however, he expects familiar payment methods and local currencies to remain stronger.

Dollar access drives stablecoin use

Maurice cautions against treating “crypto” as a single use case. In his account, broad adoption in African markets is mainly about stablecoins rather than speculative trading in smaller tokens. Businesses need access to dollars to pay international suppliers, preserve value against inflation and keep operations funded. When those options are constrained, dollar-pegged tokens can help them manage cash and exposure to local currency changes.

That does not mean every user is a company or that stablecoins have displaced domestic banking. Maurice describes a more specific role: a business may use local rails for payments within its country, then turn to stablecoins when money needs to cross a border or when it needs a dollar-denominated store of value. The distinction matters for adoption. It points to a payment and treasury tool whose usefulness depends on local financial conditions, rather than a uniform switch away from existing systems.

Central bank digital currencies address a different part of the problem, he says. A CBDC could make domestic digital payments easier, but it does not automatically give a business access to foreign currency, simplify imports or provide a hedge against local inflation. Maurice sees room for both systems: a CBDC may support local payments, while private stablecoins continue to serve cross-border and dollar access needs that a domestic currency cannot meet.

He identifies Ghana as one of the countries closest to a CBDC launch after Nigeria’s e-naira. Maurice credits the Bank of Ghana with sustained work on its project, while emphasizing that the result will depend on execution and whether people can actually use it. The source does not give a launch date. His point is that designing a digital currency is only part of the task; deployment and practical access determine whether it serves users.

Yellow Card’s role as payment infrastructure

Yellow Card’s business is built around connecting local currencies with stablecoins across multiple African markets. Its payments API packages the company’s payment rails across 20 countries, allowing outside businesses to make and collect payments and serve customers in the region. Maurice names Coinbase and Block as public examples of companies using the API to enter African markets and support payments there.

The same infrastructure can help companies already operating on the continent access stablecoins and hard currency, as well as manage currency exposure. The API abstracts differences between local payment systems, giving a business one integration point for markets where it might otherwise need to build separate local connections. That setup does not eliminate the underlying variation between countries, but it can lower the operational burden of supporting several markets.

Maurice says Yellow Card has processed more than $2 billion in transactions and offers on- and off-ramps for local fiat currencies in 20 African markets. He founded the company in 2016 while a student at Auburn University; it later moved to Lagos, and its mobile app launched in 2019. The company describes itself as the continent’s largest crypto company and first licensed pan-African exchange. Those are company claims reported in the source.

The exchange offers Bitcoin, Ethereum and other large-market-cap assets, but Maurice says they account for a smaller part of its business than fiat-to-stablecoin conversions. In his view, the clear use case explains why stablecoin demand persists even when Bitcoin’s price movements bring broader attention to crypto. A market rally may lift interest in other tokens, but it does not replace the need for inexpensive, reliable ways to move dollars.

Transaction costs may shift stablecoin liquidity

Fees are a hard constraint on adoption. Maurice says an Ethereum transaction costing $50, or in some cases as much as $200, is difficult to justify for ordinary payments. For a small merchant paying an overseas supplier, the fee can overwhelm the value of using a blockchain at all. He argues that unless Ethereum transaction costs fall substantially, it will struggle to gain traction for routine payments among users who need low-cost transfers.

That creates an opening for networks such as Solana, Stellar, Celo and Polygon, which are positioned as lower-cost alternatives. Maurice still regards Ethereum as a capable and comparatively decentralized smart contract network, with more staying power than some of its challengers. But technical strengths do not settle the adoption question. Users who need a payment to clear cheaply may choose a different chain, regardless of Ethereum’s broader developer ecosystem.

The asset matters as much as the network. Maurice says users are seeking USDT, USDC and PYUSD; they are not necessarily willing to replace those holdings with a blockchain’s native token simply because its transactions cost less. For lower-cost networks to capture stablecoin payments, they need accessible liquidity in the stablecoins people already want to use. Without it, a cheap transaction route may still be inconvenient or unusable.

Tron illustrates how quickly the economics can change. Maurice calls USDT on Tron the most popular token configuration in the markets he discusses and says USDT has more liquidity on Tron than on Ethereum. He attributes its appeal to lower transaction costs. But he says recent changes to Tron’s fee calculations have pushed costs up for USDT users, weakening its position as a low-cost stablecoin network.

That shift could benefit competing chains if stablecoin issuers and users move liquidity to them. Maurice argues that USDT’s availability on other inexpensive networks will be pivotal. He says USDC, through Circle, has broader interoperability across chains, although he considers its liquidity and adoption on some alternatives insufficient. The practical test is not only whether a chain can process a transaction cheaply; it is whether users can obtain the stablecoin they need and move enough value through that network.

Network choice therefore depends on a combination of fees, liquidity and access. A chain may offer low costs yet fail to attract meaningful payment activity if the relevant tokens are hard to acquire or cash out. Stablecoin issuers also have a role in deciding where to support liquidity. As fees rise on established routes, users and businesses have a reason to test alternatives, but migration will depend on whether those alternatives work end to end.

Licensing and trust shape participation

Maurice says formal licensing frameworks for virtual asset service providers are developing in several African markets. He cites guidance in Nigeria and South Africa, Yellow Card’s license in Botswana and licensing work within the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa. He also points to proposed bills in Kenya and Morocco. His description is that approaches are changing across the region, with more formal processes taking shape.

Yellow Card has engaged with authorities in markets where it operates, Maurice says, and in many of those countries it is the only crypto company operating formally. He argues that early companies should make it easier for later entrants to meet the rules, rather than using licensing requirements to keep competitors out. In his view, a functioning market needs rules that allow responsible firms to operate while screening out companies that cannot meet basic standards.

He also says licensing should require meaningful diligence, including capable teams and strong compliance programs. The process should not be automatic, given the number of scams in the sector. At the same time, Maurice believes some licensing systems may need stricter requirements. His position is that formal oversight can help establish trust, but only if requirements are credible and applied in a way that supports responsible participation.

Trust is especially important for stablecoin providers, he says, because some people’s first encounter with crypto has been a scam. Issuers need to explain where reserves are held, how they are protected and which standards apply to their operations. Maurice contrasts that task with Bitcoin, which has no company behind it to speak for the asset. Stablecoin issuers, by contrast, can provide information about their own reserves and practices and should take part in discussions with local institutions.

He also points to the collapse of Terra’s UST as a reason providers must distinguish their products clearly. The word “stablecoin” alone does not establish that a token will maintain its value. Users need evidence about how a token is backed and operated, while service providers must make clear how their products differ from failed designs. For an industry whose growth depends on trust, transparent explanations are part of the product.

Cross-border payments are the larger opportunity

Maurice does not expect crypto to replace local payment methods for routine purchases. A bank transfer may be simpler than using USDC for a domestic payment in Nigeria, and local currencies remain well suited to commerce inside a country. He doubts that spending Bitcoin or USDT at a coffee shop will become a major use case in Johannesburg. The more compelling opportunity, in his view, appears when a transaction crosses national borders.

Payments between neighboring countries can be difficult because currencies, banking systems and transfer networks do not necessarily connect. Maurice contrasts this with the shared currency and interoperability available across parts of Europe. Stablecoins could provide a common digital asset for settlement, making it easier for businesses and individuals to move value between African markets and receive funds from abroad.

For businesses, the benefit can be practical: paying an overseas supplier, receiving money or moving funds between operations without relying on a wire that may be delayed or returned. Maurice says stablecoins already make it easier for money to enter some countries where conventional transfers are difficult. He sees cross-border settlement as the central way these assets could change financial operations across the continent.

The broader adoption figures in the source reinforce that the activity is not confined to a handful of firms. The article reports that Nigeria ranks second worldwide for crypto adoption and that six of the top 20 countries for adoption are African. It also describes African transaction activity as having a larger share of smaller transfers than in many other regions, suggesting substantial individual use alongside business activity. The figures point to a market where payments and access are central to the story.

Maurice frames this growth as another instance of technological leapfrogging. Several African markets moved from limited fixed-line infrastructure to widespread mobile phone use, skipping stages that shaped technology adoption elsewhere. He argues that stablecoins and crypto are now giving the continent a chance to participate early in a technology category where it is not simply catching up.

That opportunity remains tied to tangible conditions: affordable transactions, adequate stablecoin liquidity, dependable access to local currencies and services people can trust. The strongest case for crypto in these markets is not that it replaces every existing payment method. It is that stablecoins can connect financial systems where conventional cross-border options remain fragmented. Whether low-cost chains can support that role will depend on making the tokens users need available where the fees make sense.