Chris Maurice
Chris Maurice (born 2 July 1996) is an American entrepreneur and millionaire. He is the co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card, a FinTech company which deals in cryptocurrency for the African market. He has made significant contributions to the African cryptocurrency industry and is considered by many to be a pioneer of cryptocurrency usage on the African continent, earning him a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List (2023) in the ‘’Finance’’ and ‘’Big Money Startups’’ category.[1]
Early life and education
Chris Maurice was born on July 2, 1996, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to mother Kelly Maurice and father Darren Maurice. He has one brother, Andrew Maurice. Maurice grew up on the West Bank of New Orleans (Harvey, Louisiana) before the family relocated to the Northshore during his high school years. He lived in the Greater New Orleans area his entire early life, excluding a stint in Little Rock, Arkansas, where his family evacuated for five months after Hurricane Katrina.
He attended primary school in Algiers, Louisiana. He attended high school at Jesuit High School of New Orleans.
He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Auburn University in Alabama[2] in 2018, despite dropping out for a year in 2016 to start Yellow Card. Maurice was the Harbert College of Business Student of the Year in 2018.[3]
Career
Maurice began working online in 2006, selling Pokemon and other trading cards online through platforms such as eBay and Craigslist.[4]
In 2016, Maurice and his co-founder, Justin Poiroux, started Yellow Card, originally as a company distributing Bitcoin gift cards in retail stores.[5]
In 2019, after much research and insight from people in Africa, Yellow Card launched in Nigeria as a crypto exchange.[1][6]
As the CEO of Yellow Card,[7] Maurice has led the company through three successful funding rounds, raising a total of $57 million, which is the most raised ever by any crypto company on the African continent.[8] Under his leadership, the company has surpassed one million customers, expanded to 16 countries, and became the first and only licensed cryptocurrency company on the African continent.[9]
Maurice is also a thought leader and authority in the industry, frequently speaking at international events and conferences.[10]
Personal life
Chris Maurice currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Since 2018, Maurice has lived for stints in Atlanta; San Francisco; Lagos, Nigeria; New York City; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, South Africa; Kinshasa, DR Congo; and Barcelona, Spain.
Maurice is an Eagle Scout and holds a black belt in Taekwondo.[11]
References
- ↑ "Yellow Card". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
- ↑ "From Dorm Room to $1.75 Billion: 26-Year-Old's Crypto Exchange Takes Africa by Storm". cryptonews.com. 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ↑ "Auburn University student-startup business headed to national business pitch competition". Office of Communications and Marketing. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
- ↑ Brackens, Tiffany (2022-10-12). "Ep. 143 – How Yellow Card's $40M Series B Scales Its Pan-African Exchange Built in ATL, with CEO Chris Maurice". Atlanta Startup Podcast. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
- ↑ Nwanekwu, Lucky (2020-07-17). "'Bitcoin is giving a lot of people the freedom that they never knew existed' - Maurice". Businessday NG. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
- ↑ Adeyanju, Oluwaseun. "Jack Dorsey's Square Joins Largest Bitcoin Investment In Africa". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ↑ Yongo, Judicael; Wilson, Tom; Savage, Rachel; Wilson, Tom; Savage, Rachel (2022-04-28). "Analysis: Bitcoin adoption by Central African Republic baffles cryptoverse". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ↑ Sigalos, MacKenzie (2023-03-25). "The crypto exchange this 26-year-old launched in 2019 has done $1.75 billion in transactions". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ↑ Adeyanju, Oluwaseun. "After Raising $40 Million, African Bitcoin Exchange Yellow Card Seeks 'Unicorn Status By End Of 2023'". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
- ↑ "Chris Maurice - Yellow Card africatechsummit.com/nairobi/". africatechsummit.com/nairobi/. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
- ↑ Cremades, Alejandro. "Chris Maurice On Raising $57 Million To Help You Make Instant And Cheap Cross-Border Payments". Alejandro Cremades. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
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