The new service will permit MetaMask customers to buy directly through their self-custodial crypto wallet.
- The MetaMask Card will be being offered in a trial phase to just a handful of customers in both the EU and UK and a larger release planned later in the year.
- Customers will have the ability buy directly with your USDC, USDT and wETH assets stored on the Layer-2 Linea network. Linea.
MetaMask, the well-known self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet for Ethereum (ETH), the Ethereum (ETH) network, has started the introduction of its debit card based on blockchain, developed in partnership with the the giant of payments Mastercard (MA) along with cryptocurrency payments specialist Baanx.
Its MetaMask Card will be initially available as the form of a “limited trial of just a couple of thousand cards that are digital only” for customers within the European Union countries and the UK, Metamask told CoinDesk on Wednesday. The company is planning to expand distribution later in the year, which will include the possibility of a “full rollout” within both the EU and UK and further pilot launches across the world in the coming months.
The service is offered with traditional financial services as well as blockchain-based digital assets are becoming more and more interconnected. As international institutions have begun to tokenize traditional instruments such as bonds, asset and credit managers begin selling the bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds, payment giants are looking for ways to integrate blockchain technology into rails for financial transactions.
Mastercard has worked with Baanx on its web3 payment initiative, which connects traditional payments with crypto platforms, such as hardware wallet company Ledger and the decentralized exchange 1 inch. The rival company Visa (V) however, has partnered with Circle’s USDC stablecoin as well as its Solana (SOL) network to facilitate international payments.
CoinDesk published the story on March 1st in March that MetaMask tested a cryptocurrency-based payment card using Mastercard as well as Baanx.
We identified a major opportunity to enable purchases for self-custody wallet users simpler, safer and more interoperable,” explained Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice head of digital and blockchain asset management at Mastercard.
“Anybody who is able to access the internet via a smartphone should be in able have access to a basic variety of financial services by automatically,” stated Simon Jones who is chief commercial officer at Baanx. “This could have a huge impact for countries that have large numbers of people who are unbanked or underbanked.”
The card functions as the typical debit card however it allows transactions directly through the digital assets held in Metamask’s wallet that is self-custodial. It means that the cardholders will have the funds they have purchased until the point of purchase.
Users can use the USDC, USDT and wETH in cryptocurrencies that are held in the Linea blockchain which is which is an Ethereum layer-2 network that was developed by Consensys and is the creator of MetaMask.
This allows people to have more flexibility to invest their money and, in this instance crypto,” said Lorenzo Santos who is the senior product manager at Consensys.
