MetaMask Card Launches Globally Boosting Crypto Spending Power
1min read In February 2025, MetaMask, the popular Ethereum wallet with over 100 million users, launched its debit card in partnership with Baanx and mastercard. This new card aims to bridge the gap between the crypto world and everyday payment systems, allowing users to spend their crypto holdings directly from their self-custody wallets without surrendering control to traditional financial institutions.
The card's functionality is based on a complex system that ensures seamless transactions. When a user taps the card at a store, the system checks the connected wallet for sufficient funds, authorizes the spending through smart contracts, processes the transaction on-chain in under five seconds, and ensures the merchant receives their local currency as normal. This process is designed to meet the sub-five-second requirements of European payment regulations, ensuring global scalability.
One of the key advantages of the MetaMask card is its non-custodial nature, which allows for global accessibility without the need for banking relationships. This feature is particularly beneficial in emerging markets where local currencies often face instability and inflation. In regions like Latin America, users can experience 25 to 30% additional purchasing power by using a dollar-denominated card instead of local currency. The card has already been launched in multiple countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, with plans to expand to 80 countries this year.
The non-custodial neobanking model represented by the MetaMask card is part of a broader shift in financial infrastructure. Traditional banks may no longer be able to rely on money sloshing around in payments networks to finance their lending. This separation of payments from lending could lead to a more competitive marketplace for credit provision, potentially benefiting both traditional banks and new financial technologies.
However, the model faces regulatory challenges, particularly in the US where clarity around stablecoin regulation has yet to be established. While jurisdictions like Singapore and the EU have created frameworks for stablecoin issuance and use, the US has lagged behind. The current administration is proving to be more open-minded about stablecoin legislation, but global regulatory fragmentation remains a challenge.
Despite these challenges, the potential of non-custodial neobanking is significant. By connecting self-custodial crypto to everyday payment systems, it delivers on crypto's original promise of financial sovereignty without sacrificing convenience. The data shows stablecoins already settling trill