In this edition of Coffee with Calyptus, we sit down with Chris Maurice, CEO of Yellow Card, Africa’s largest licensed crypto exchange.
From a $90 remittance fee sparking his mission to leveraging stablecoins for inflation-proof transactions, Chris shares how crypto is tackling Africa’s financial pain points: costly cross-border payments, unstable currencies, and fragmented infrastructure.
Chris, you've built Yellow Card into the largest licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Africa, tackling unique challenges along the way. What was the aha moment when you realized the transformative potential of crypto on the continent, and how did you go from an idea to building such a robust platform?
That moment came at a Wells Fargo in the capital of innovation—Auburn, Alabama. Justin and I met a Nigerian man charged $90 to send $200 to his family. This interaction sparked a critical realization—while Bitcoin could offer low-cost, instant transfers, it wasn’t the right solution for people trying to use it for everyday needs like food and rent. Determined to understand why sending money to Africa was so expensive, I dived deep into research, skipping classes to study the banking systems, currencies, and Nigeria’s financial landscape.
Eventually, I realized if I want to understand the country and the continent, I need to speak to someone from there. So I set out to find a Nigerian man on the Internet to learn from. This was about the point in my life where I learned that Nigerians are the most convincing people on the face of this planet because shortly after meeting this Nigerian man online, he got me to fly to Lagos on a six-day-old passport, a one-way ticket, and a desire to understand firsthand the real financial challenges faced on the continent.
What we discovered in Nigeria was that the continent didn’t need another remittance app; there were already thousands of them. The real issue was infrastructure—enabling people to interact with digital assets like Bitcoin and Stablecoins and connect them to local economies. After extensive research, Yellow Card was launched in June 2019 to tackle these challenges head-on. Since then, we've grown into the largest Stablecoin on/off ramp in Africa, providing secure, cost-effective ways for individuals and businesses to buy and sell Stablecoins and Bitcoin using local currencies. Yellow Card isn't just a company, it’s part of a larger movement reshaping financial systems across Africa, offering practical solutions for cross-border payments, savings, and financial inclusion, while meeting the continent’s everyday financial needs.
You've often emphasized the role of stablecoins in emerging markets, especially in Africa. What specific pain points in traditional financial systems are stablecoins solving, and how do you see this technology evolving to meet future needs?
Traditional financial systems in Africa often suffer from slow, expensive, and unreliable cross-border payments—meanwhile demand for imports (and thus cross-border payments) has never been higher on the continent. The pain of waiting days for a transaction to clear or being slapped with high fees just to send money to family members is all too real. Stablecoins solve this problem by providing instant, low-cost transactions that can be accessed by anyone that needs them. They also offer a much-needed hedge against inflation and currency devaluation, which is especially important in many African economies.
Looking ahead, I think stablecoins will continue to evolve as more businesses adopt them for daily operations. We’re already seeing more companies using stablecoins for international trade and treasury management daily. As the technology matures and regulatory frameworks solidify, I believe stablecoins will play an even bigger role in integrating local economies with global financial markets, making cross-border payments more seamless and accessible to everyone and providing massive opportunity for economic growth and development on the continent.
Road-tripping from Johannesburg to Nairobi and sharing your journey on social media is quite a bold way to showcase the diversity and culture of Africa. What lessons have you learned from these travels, and how has it shaped your perspective on building a business that serves such a vast and varied market?
The road trip was sick. I got distracted after we arrived, but eventually I will send the last few posts of the saga. I’ve been all over Africa since that initial landing in Nigeria in 2018. It’s incredibly diverse. There is no one-size-fits-all for the continent. You learn something new every time you travel. That is why it is critical to hire locally, to work with people on the ground, learn for the experts on a country-by-country basis, and understand the nuances in each market.
You've been at the forefront of crypto adoption in Africa, dealing with everything from regulatory hurdles to customer education. Can you share a moment or story where you faced a major roadblock, and how you or your team overcame it?
We are doing business in 20 of the hardest countries in the world to do business in (according to the UN and essentially any other metric). We face unique and challenging situations every day. The major ones you’ll need to wait to hear about until I write a book ;)
AI is transforming industries across the board. How is Yellow Card leveraging AI to enhance its offerings, whether it’s in fraud prevention, customer experience, or scaling operations, and where do you see the intersection of AI and blockchain going in the future?
AI is huge for us, especially when it comes to scaling. We use AI in a lot of ways—like fraud prevention, where AI helps us detect unusual activity and prevent financial crimes before they even happen. It’s also helping improve customer experience by automating responses, tracking transactions, and offering more personalized support through chatbots and other tools.
As for the future, I see the intersection of AI and blockchain becoming even more seamless. Blockchain offers the transparency and security that AI needs to function effectively, and AI can help optimize the use of blockchain for things like transaction verification or predictive analysis. The possibilities are endless, and we’re just scratching the surface.
Crypto adoption is growing worldwide. What do you think the future is for crypto and blockchain technologies in Africa, are there any projects we should really keep an eye on?
I think Africa is just getting started with crypto. We’re already seeing a huge increase in adoption, and over the next five to ten years, I expect crypto and blockchain technologies to play a massive role in shaping the continent’s financial future. This technology is bringing so much investment, so many jobs, such critical opportunities for people and businesses across Africa and rapidly improving the development of the economies across the continent.
Only project I watch is Yellow Card ;)
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What would you change in the below price-feed consumer contract?
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Solidity Challenge Answer ✅
Chainlink price feed latestRoundData is used to retrieve price feed from chainlink. We need to add checks to make sure that the answer is not negative and price is not stale.
