Key Takeaways
- Visa and FTX have announced plans to extend their crypto-powered debit card to 40 new countries.
- The card, which is currently available in the U.S., will soon be available in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
- Visa also works with several other cryptocurrency companies to provide crypto-powered debit cards.
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Visa and FTX have announced plans to extend their crypto debit card to several new countries worldwide.
FTX Visa Cards Expand Globally
FTX is extending the global reach of its crypto card.
According to an announcement, FTX will soon launch its crypto debit card in Latin America. The card will also be made available in Europe by the end of the year and will be offered in Asia. The press release adds that “additional regional launches [are] planned for 2023.”
Though FTX introduced its debit card in the U.S. earlier this year—with its waitlist beginning in January—today’s news will bring the product to 40 other countries.
The card connects to the user’s FTX balance and converts crypto to an accepted currency at the point of sale.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said that his company is “excited to partner with” Visa. He added that FTX’s crypto debit card will facilitate cryptocurrency purchases at “millions of merchants around the globe.” Currently, 80 million merchants accept Visa card payments.
Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, added that the debit card will provide “flexibility and ease-of-use to the way people use their crypto.”
FTX is not the only company that offers crypto debit cards. Last year, Visa said that it was working with 50 companies on such cards. Binance, Coinbase, BlockFi, and Crypto.com are among the other crypto exchanges and companies that offer Visa-powered crypto debit cards.
Visa also said in 2021 that its crypto cards had handled $1 billion in the first half of that year.
Some companies have partnered with Mastercard and other payment processors to offer similar cards.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies.
