Yellow Card Raises $40M to Displace SWIFT With Onchain Bank Infrastructure

Woofun AI reports that Yellow Card has secured $40 million in strategic equity funding to expand its stablecoin payment infrastructure, a move attributed to CEO Chris Maurice’s thesis that banks will increasingly adopt blockchain technology for cross-border dollar transfers. This capital injection is designed to bridge traditional banking with onchain settlement, directly challenging legacy systems.

The funding round features participation from SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s venture arm, Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital, and Blockchain Capital. Per Woofun AI, this brings total equity financing to over $120 million, reflecting a valuation significantly above the $200 million recorded in 2022, though sources indicate it remains below the $1 billion mark. Neither Maurice nor the company’s PR team confirmed the specific valuation to CoinDesk, but the financial context underscores investor confidence in the firm’s trajectory alongside CTO Justin Poiroux.

Structurally, Yellow Card positions itself against SWIFT, the interbank service processing over 53 million secure messaging instructions daily for nearly 11,500 financial institutions. SWIFT facilitates trillions of dollars in global transactions and announced last month it was testing its first blockchain ledger. Maurice, a former Pokémon card seller, stated in a 2024 interview that the firm’s goal is to eliminate B2B payments companies from the flow, enabling direct onchain bank-to-bank transfers.

The new capital will expand Global USD Accounts, a product allowing businesses to hold dollars, swap stablecoins, and manage treasury operations across more than 50 countries. Focus areas include adding stablecoin and local payment mechanisms in Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Historically, Yellow Card’s flows have been split evenly between corporates and large financial institutions, with bank volumes now growing faster as large institutions adopt the system.

Founded in 2016, Yellow Card initiated operations in Africa, navigating fragmented regulatory jurisdictions to facilitate over $10 billion in transactions. The firm currently holds licenses, authorizations, or registrations in 22 jurisdictions. This expansion marks a critical shift as legacy payment systems face pressure from onchain alternatives, signaling a potential restructuring of global treasury management.