Jai Sahu
Introduction of the Tezos-Branded Card
The Tezos Foundation has partnered with Baanx to introduce a Tezos-branded, non-custodial crypto card. This innovative card will operate on Etherlink, an Ethereum-compatible Layer 2 blockchain enhanced by Tezos Smart Rollups technology, facilitating swift and cost-effective transactions. The Tezos Foundation-backed card will be widely accepted by over 110 million merchants globally that are compatible with Mastercard.
Growing Popularity of Non-Custodial Crypto Cards
Non-custodial crypto cards, which enable users to retain control of their crypto until they need to spend it, are gaining traction. Mastercard and Baanx are also launching a MetaMask debit card, and DeFi firm 1Inch already has a similar card in operation. Baanx’s partnership with Tezos spans over four years, with the Tezos Foundation participating in previous Baanx funding rounds.
The Tezos Etherlink Layer 2 currently offers transaction finality in approximately 500 milliseconds, with improvements expected to increase this speed in the coming months, according to Siddharth Singhal, head of business development at Trilitech, a Tezos developer.
“We have built an on-chain, non-custodial payment experience allowing users to spend their on-chain balance in a non-custodial fashion, as you would with any MasterCard,” Singhal said in an interview. “So, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, as well as real-life retail scenarios – wherever a debit card is acceptable.”
Benefits and Future Prospects of Crypto Cards
The purpose of crypto cards extends beyond being a substitute for online banking; they also aim to assist the unbanked or underbanked populations and support the creator economy in developing wallets that can directly pay users, explained Simon Jones, Baanx’s chief commercial officer.
“As well as the roughly 1.2 billion people who don’t have access to financial services, you have those who basically want to bin their bank, but need that real-world connectivity,” Jones said in an interview. “Another use would be for the creator economy, where you might be running a gaming wallet, say, and pay out to users, but don’t want to hand back revenues to Apple. Why not go directly to the consumer?”