Mambo 👋, Yellow Card just raised $40M to scale its stablecoin infrastructure and Global USD Accounts. Even better, Yelllow Card’s East Africa’s country manager has registered for Mambo Stable #01, Tanzania’s first stablecoin meetup, on 27 August in Dar es Salaam. Register to attend.
The story
Kenya’s new crypto rules are turning licences into the new moat.
Binance, Kotani Pay, VALR, Yellow Card and Luno are among firms looking to enter Kenya’s licensing process after the country gazetted its new VASP rules. Kenya recorded about $19 Billion in crypto inflows between July 2024 and June 2025, more than double the previous year.
As stablecoin technology becomes easier to access, the advantage is shifting from the technology itself to licences, local compliance and distribution.
Deals
Yellow Card raised $40 Million to expand its stablecoin infrastructure and Global USD Accounts.
The company shut down its consumer app, which had more than 1 million users, to focus on B2B stablecoin payments. It has processed over $10 Billion and is now expanding beyond Africa into Latin America and the Philippines.
A clear shift from crypto trading to stablecoin infrastructure, especially in Africa where traditional dollar payments remain slow, expensive and difficult to access.
Launches
Yellow Card and Checker are partnering to make cross border payments faster and more reliable.
Yellow Card brings licensed stablecoin infrastructure and local expertise across key African markets, while Checker provides the infrastructure big financial institutions use to move money globally.
Regulation
Nigeria is taxing crypto firms up to 30%.
Under the new rules, medium and large companies earning profits from crypto related activities can face up to 30% corporate income tax, while VASPs face stricter tax reporting requirements.
We’re not judging the tax rate. What matters is the direction: regulators are choosing to regulate crypto and tax it, rather than ban it.
Madini
“Crypto is allergic to control and over-aggression does not shut off the flow. It simply drives the other side of the K-shaped result”.
From inside
Standard Bank processed $1.2B in RMB transactions through China’s CIPS in its first year of direct access.
The bank became the first African lender to connect directly to CIPS in November 2025.
African banks are building direct connections to international payment rails, reducing reliance on correspondent banks for key trade corridors. It’s the same journey stablecoins are following: making cross border money move more directly, with fewer layers in between.
On the record
Checker has now settled more than $500 Million in stablecoin transactions on Polygon.
Written from inside Africa with love 🇹🇿💚
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