Binance brings its prepaid crypto card to Colombia
Following recent expansions to Brazil and Argentina, Binance announced on March 10 that its crypto debit card is available in Colombia. The latest of Binance’s forays into Latin America was made in partnership with Mastercard, and the card itself is issued by Moviei.
Binance brings its crypto card to Colombia
This Friday, Binance revealed that it is bringing its crypto prepaid card to Colombia. The card will be issued by Moviei, and can be used everywhere Mastercard is accepted. Users in Colombia will be able to make payments with many different cryptocurrencies, including some stablecoins and BNB, BTC, ETH, ADA, DOT, SOL, SHIB, XRP, MATIC and LINK.
As with similar launches, Binance expressed hope that the card will help bridge the gap between TradFi and DeFi and lead to increased adoption of digital assets. Just two months earlier, in January, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange brought its debit card to Brazil. Over the past few months, Binance has actively sought expansion into South America and also launched a similar product in Argentina last summer.
The exchange’s efforts are not surprising considering that Latin America is proving to be a very dynamic hub for digital assets. While perhaps the best-known example of the trend is El Salvador’s 2020 decision to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, other nations in the region have moved in a decidedly more crypto-friendly direction. Argentina, for example, began allowing residents of its important wine-producing region to pay taxes in cryptocurrencies in August 2022.
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Visa and Mastercard not deterred by crypto backlash
The long list of disasters and bankruptcies that have rocked the cryptocurrency industry starting with the fall of LUNA and most recently leading to the liquidation of Silvergate has many looking nervously at the growing relationship between Visa and Mastercard, and the digital asset sector. In fact, the uncertainty recently led to reports that both companies have taken the decision to freeze their ties with blockchain companies pending the end of the “crypto winter.”
However, the reports were both denied by Visa and proven false by the recent actions of the payment giants. Earlier this month, Mastercard partnered with Bitso, a major cryptocurrency exchange from Mexico, to launch a cryptocurrency debit card in the country. In addition, the partnership between the payments giant and Immersve led to the launch of a similar product that was offered to users in New Zealand and Australia.
Both Visa and Mastercard have also been active when it comes to institutional cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. Mastercard, for example, announced the launch of a tool aimed at helping banks detect digital asset-related crime in October and revealed that it would help banking institutions offer cryptocurrencies to their customers.
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Do you think Binance’s crypto card will be available in all South American countries before the end of 2023? Let us know in the comments below.
About the author
Tim Fries is the co-founder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate in the investment team at RW Baird’s US Private Equity division and is also a co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
