Yellow Card review
Updated September 28, 2026 · HodlCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026
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Our verdict
Yellow Card is a custodial exchange built for a narrow job: buying and holding a handful of major coins. It suits readers who want a properly registered venue and a short list rather than a long trading line. Support runs on help centre, so answers come from written material.
Key facts
- Best for
- A regulated custodial exchange for a short, curated coin list.
- Coins listed
- 7↗
- Regulators
- Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA), Polish Ministry of Finance / Director of Inland Revenue Administration Chamber in Katowice, Bank of Canada / FINTRAC↗
- Exchange type
- Cex↗
- Legal entity
- Yellow Card Financial Inc.↗
- Founded
- 2016↗
- Support channels
- Help-centre↗
- Official website
- yellowcard.io
Facts checked September 26, 2026, 4 sources
Pros and cons
Pros
- A wide regulatory footprint, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Non Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) and Polish Ministry of Finance / Director of Inland Revenue Administration Chamber in Katowice, held by Yellow Card Financial Inc..
- Operating since 2016 under Yellow Card Financial Inc., so the business has run through several market cycles.
- Custodial by design, cex, so assets sit with the platform rather than with a self-custody wallet.
Cons
- A short list, 7 coins, under the 74.5 median for the category and far below from 650.
- Support runs on help centre only, so answers come from written documentation rather than a person on the line.
- It ranks at 155 of 172 brands on coins listed, and scores 1 overall on the site.
Who it suits
- Readers who want a custodial account and are happy to work inside a curated, short coin list.
- People who put regulatory reach and a named legal operator near the top of their priorities.
- Buy and hold users who want a plain custodial venue rather than a long pair list.
Who should look elsewhere
- Bitpanda, when coin choice comes first: from 650 coins against 7 here, with a much longer menu.
- bunq, for a longer menu of pairs to pick from: from 350 against 7 on Yellow Card.
How Yellow Card compares
9.0 vs 9.5- 9.0 vs 9.3
9.0 vs 9.2
9.0 vs 9.79 coins, close to 7 on Yellow Card, if pair count is not the deciding factor.
9.0 vs 9.4
9.0 vs 9.6
9.0 vs 9.0
9.0 vs 9.0
9.0 vs 9.0
9.0 vs 9.0
9.0 vs 8.9
9.0 vs 9.0
9.0 vs 8.2
9.0 vs 8.2
9.0 vs 9.7
9.0 vs 9.4
9.0 vs 9.3
9.0 vs 9.2
9.0 vs 9.2
9.0 vs 9.1
9.0 vs 9.0
9.0 vs 8.7
9.0 vs 8.6
Where Yellow Card is available
- Available
- Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia
- Licence in United States
- Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) (31000166765679), checked September 26, 2026
- Licence in Botswana
- Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) (11/1/5(1)), checked September 26, 2026
- Licence in Poland
- Polish Ministry of Finance / Director of Inland Revenue Administration Chamber in Katowice (RDWW-1069), checked September 26, 2026
- Licence in Canada
- Bank of Canada / FINTRAC, checked September 26, 2026
Countries from the brand (Source, checked September 29, 2026)
Frequently asked questions
How many coins can I buy and sell on Yellow Card?+
Yellow Card lists 7 coins, which sits below the 74.5 median across ranked exchanges. The same comparison puts Bitpanda at from 650 and bunq at from 350. Trading a long altcoin list is not what this venue is set up for.
Which regulators and licences does Yellow Card hold?+
Yellow Card is run by Yellow Card Financial Inc., registered with Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Non Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) and Polish Ministry of Finance / Director of Inland Revenue Administration Chamber in Katowice. The Botswana licence is 11/1/5(1) and the Polish one RDWW-1069. That spread of registrations is the main safety signal here.
Who holds the coins in a Yellow Card account?+
Yellow Card runs as a centralised exchange, cex, so the account is custodial and the platform holds the assets rather than the customer. That keeps key management simple, but it also places custody risk with the operator instead of with an independent wallet.
What support can I expect from Yellow Card?+
Support runs on help centre, and that is the only channel listed for the brand. Chat and phone reach 38.9% and 19.2% of ranked exchanges, against a help centre on 82.1%, so quick answers lean on written material.
How long has Yellow Card been running?+
Yellow Card was founded in 2016, so the business has operated across several market cycles. The legal entity behind the account is Yellow Card Financial Inc.. Longevity does not replace the licensing check, but it adds context to how established the operation is.
How does Yellow Card rank against other exchanges?+
On the HodlCue exchanges list, Yellow Card scores 1 overall and sits at 155 of 172 brands on coins listed. The coin count of 7 drives that position, with the exchange median at 74.5.
Where is Yellow Card licensed to operate?+
The registrations cover Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Non Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) and Polish Ministry of Finance / Director of Inland Revenue Administration Chamber in Katowice, spanning the US, Botswana, Poland and Canada. That is a multi-jurisdiction footprint rather than a single market, with the same entity, Yellow Card Financial Inc., named across them. Which registrations apply to a given account depends on where the holder lives.
Sources
- help.yellowcard.io checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Support channels
“Yellow Card Knowledge Base - How can we help?”
- techcityng.com/yellow-card-adds-5-new-digital-assets-to-t... checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Coins listed
“view and trade over seven digital assets including: Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), Ethereum (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL) & Celo Dollar (cUSD)”
- yellowcard.io/about-us checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Exchange type, Founded
“largest and first licensed Stablecoin on/off ramp in Africa”
- yellowcard.io/legal/licenses-registration checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Legal entity, Regulators, Licences
“Yellow Card Financial Inc., a Delaware corporation with registration number 5982507”
Compiled from 4 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.
Not confirmed yet: Taker fee, Fiat deposit methods.