Crypto payments firm Mercuryo has released a Mastercard debit card for crypto holders in Europe.
The virtual payment method, called Spend, enables users to turn their crypto holdings into fiat to make purchases at more than 90 million merchants in the Mastercard network, Mercuryo said in a statement on Thursday.
The digital card is issued by Polish fintech company Quicko.
Spend aims to become a widely accepted payment method, leveraging Mercuryo’s competitive off-ramp fees and security, the company said.
“The launch of Spend marks a significant milestone in our journey towards democratizing access to cryptocurrency and integrating it seamlessly with the traditional payment world,” Mercuryo co-founder and CEO Petr Kozyakov said in a statement.
Spend is embedded into a non-custodial wallet, meaning its users can store and manage the keys to their crypto holdings. It is compatible with 40 cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Solana, according to Mercuryo.
The company says cryptocurrencies sold with Spend are immediately available on the virtual card, versus the delay they would typically experience with a bank.
At launch, the debit card is available to crypto holders in the European Economic Area (EEA). However, Mercuryo soon plans to roll out access to Spend in other regions around the globe.
The monthly spending limit for Spend is €40,000, with a €1.60 issuance fee for card users and a €1 per month maintenance fee. The card issuer requires users to comply with anti-money laundering and know-your-consumer rules.
Mercuryo’s debut of its crypto-to-fiat Mastercard debit card follows the launches of several similar Mastercard payment methods targeting digital asset holders over the past few years.
In August, MetaMask launched a debit card with Mastercard, allowing users to use virtual tokens such as Bitcoin for purchases from popular stores. Meanwhile, Bybit began offering a debit card last year that converts a handful of digital tokens to fiat currencies.
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Liz Napolitano
https://decrypt.co/248127/mercuryo-spend-crypto-debit-card-mastercard
2024-09-05 21:08:17
