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With Mastercard, MetaMask Tests First Blockchain-Powered Payment Card
Issued by Baanx, the card would let users spend their crypto "on everyday purchases, everywhere cards are accepted," according to marketing materials CoinDesk reviewed.
- MetaMask is testing a Mastercard payment card, which it says is the first entirely on-chain card.
- Issued by Baanx, the card will let users spend crypto "on everyday purchases, everywhere cards are accepted," according to marketing materials CoinDesk reviewed.
MetaMask, the popular cryptocurrency wallet for the Ethereum blockchain, is testing an entirely on-chain payment card running on Mastercard's giant network and issued by Baanx, according to promotional materials and a testing platform seen by CoinDesk.
Such a product would unite two giants of their respective fields. MetaMask is the biggest self-custody wallet with more than 30 million monthly active users, while Mastercard provides key plumbing in the conventional financial system through its credit- and debit-card network spanning the globe.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The MetaMask/Mastercard payment card would be "the first ever truly decentralized web3 payment solution," allowing users to spend their crypto "on everyday purchases, everywhere cards are accepted," according to the marketing materials.
Mastercard and its rival Visa have been quietly courting public blockchain developer communities and self-custody wallet providers of late. Mastercard has been working with hardware wallet firm Ledger as well as MetaMask, CoinDesk reported in October of last year.
Visa, meanwhile, has been working with the USDC stablecoin and the Solana blockchain on cross-border payments and smoothing out wrinkles like paying Ethereum gas fees.
MetaMask developer Consensys did not respond to a request for a comment.
When contacted by CoinDesk, a Mastercard representative pointed to the firm's statement from October: "Mastercard is bringing its trusted and transparent approach to the digital assets space through a range of innovative products and solutions – including the Mastercard Multi-Token Network, Crypto Credential, CBDC Partner Program, and new card programs that connect Web2 and Web3."
UPDATE (March 11, 2024, 21:33 UTC): Adds that Baanx will issue the card.
Ian Allison
Ian Allison is a senior reporter at CoinDesk, focused on institutional and enterprise adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Prior to that, he covered fintech for the International Business Times in London and Newsweek online. He won the State Street Data and Innovation journalist of the year award in 2017, and was runner up the following year. He also earned CoinDesk an honourable mention in the 2020 SABEW Best in Business awards. His November 2022 FTX scoop, which brought down the exchange and its boss Sam Bankman-Fried, won a Polk award, Loeb award and New York Press Club award. Ian graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He holds ETH.
