Why Crypto Cards Remain an Option in Fiat Environment?

Crypto cards, like bank cards, can be tangible, or plastic, or virtual. The latter can be used to make online payments, whilst the former can be swiped or tapped at physical stores that have point of sale (POS) terminals.

There are various varieties of crypto cards that differ slightly from standard ones. For example, credit crypto cards employ deposited crypto assets as collateral to extend a credit limit in cash. There are also fiat credit cards that provide cashback or benefits in the form of coins and tokens.

Crypto debit cards are the category that allows you to spend your digital currencies or withdraw cash from ATMs. These are linked to a cryptocurrency wallet and offer rapid conversion to fiat at the time of purchase or withdrawal at the current exchange rate.

Bitpay and Wirex were among the first to enter the crypto debit card industry. Bitpay, a cryptocurrency payment processor based in the United States, suspended new applications for its prepaid Mastercard in May of this year.

Wirex continues to provide both physical and virtual cards. The business recently stated that it is ready to launch W-pay, an app chain that will allow it to issue non-custodial cards.

Coinbase, America's largest cryptocurrency exchange, offers a crypto card that allows customers to spend their default fiat cash, the stablecoin usd coin (USDC), or supported cryptocurrencies. The Coinbase Card is a Visa debit card that is available to citizens of the United States, excluding Hawaii, as well as the European Union.

It's competitor Binance also launched its Binance Card in 2020, but due to issues with regulators and banking partners this year, the company announced in August that Visa had stopped issuing new co-branded cards in Europe, and Mastercard had ended its partnership with Binance for markets in South America and the Middle East.

Bybit woukd debut its new crypto debit card in February, that accepts the top-ups like bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and tether (USDT). Customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom can currently order it, with a few exceptions. Crypto.com and Kucoin are two other exchanges that have their own offerings.

Venmo and Gemini both offer credit cards with crypto cashback and rewards, while Nexo this year added a feature to its crypto card that allows you to switch between a crypto credit mode, which allows you to spend without selling your deposited digital assets, and a debit mode, which allows you to pay with euros, British pounds, and US dollars and receive interest in fiat or tokens.

Although the availability of crypto cards has been restricted by increasing regulatory requirements, they are still a practical way to use bitcoin where currency is only accepted.

You can spend crypto with them without first exchanging it, which is customary when paying with cryptocurrencies in a fiat situation. While not as immediate as many in the crypto community would like, crypto cards do provide a way to pay with decentralized digital money where merchants would otherwise only accept dollars, euros, or other central bank currencies.

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