- The card will be accepted at merchants’ stores on the Mastercard (NYSE:MA) and Visa (NYSE:V) networks.
- According to Alchemy Pay, the card will support more than 40 digital assets.
- Alchemy Pay has already finished developing the card and is currently running beta tests.
- Reportedly, the virtual crypto card service aims to promote the use of crypto in the payment space.
Alchemy Pay, a hybrid crypto-fiat platform, is gearing up to roll out a virtual crypto-linked card. The firm unveiled its plans through a press release held on Monday, noting that the launch seeks to foster crypto adoption in the payment sector. Reportedly, virtual crypto card users will be able to link them to digital wallets, such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and PayPal.
According to a news article, the cards will support more than 40 digital assets. In order to ensure that these cryptocurrencies are easily spendable, the cards will be supported across millions of merchant stores on the Visa and Mastercard networks. Additionally, the cards will be accepted on e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY).
The company has already completed the development stage, and the cards are currently undergoing beta testing in several leading markets. At this pace, the company projects that the service will be fully available at the end of this year or in early 2022.
The Popularity of Crypto-Enabled Cards Is Expanding Rapidly
Alchemy Pay’s decision to roll out virtual crypto cards has been driven by the rising popularity of crypto card based payments. The firm cited a report, which disclosed that Visa’s crypto-enabled cards recorded a transaction volume of more than $1 billion in the first half of 2021. With those volumes expected to increase as the industry expands, the company is confident that its virtual crypto card stands a fighting chance in the space.
To gain an edge over its rivals, Alchemy Pay also intends to offer its virtual card services as a full-suite white-label service. In doing so, the card service will have utility for crypto projects, businesses, and traditional institutions that wish to integrate crypto payment solutions into their systems.
This news comes after Alchemy Pay joined hands with Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, to streamline peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto payments. The deal saw Binance integrate Alchemy Pay’s hybrid crypto-fiat solution to build a payment bridge between crypto and fiat through the Binance Pay wallet. As a result of this deal, Binance Pay now has a better shot at mass adoption through Alchemy Pay’s broad network of merchant partners, which includes Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), and Aldo, among others.
On The Flipside
- While Alchemy Pay’s hybrid crypto-fiat platform has the potential to streamline crypto payments, it is worth noting that the high volatility associated with crypto inhibits it from achieving such a milestone.
- An example of this volatility is seen in Bitcoin (BTC), which jumped from $40,865.87 on Friday last week, to $45,783.01 at the time of writing, Monday 9th, 12:32 PM UTC.
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