Latest news with #Baanx
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ledger and Baanx launch Bitcoin rewards debit card in the U.S.
Ledger and Baanx launch Bitcoin rewards debit card in the U.S. originally appeared on TheStreet. U.S. users can now get 1% back in Bitcoin and deposit paychecks directly into crypto through the CL Card, powered by Ledger and Baanx. Baanx, a crypto payments platform, has officially launched its Crypto Life (CL) Visa Card in the U.S., in partnership with Ledger, the leading provider of digital asset security solutions. The card offers 1% cashback in Bitcoin (BTC) or USDC on every purchase and allows users to directly deposit their paychecks into the card account—bridging traditional income with everyday crypto use. 'At Baanx, we believe the future of finance is built on freedom, flexibility, and security,' said Simon Jones, Chief Commercial Officer of Baanx. 'The CL Card, designed for Ledger, is a step toward mainstream, non-custodial crypto payments—right in your pocket. This launch in the U.S. is a major milestone for our mission to put users in control.' Users can top up the card at their discretion, convert income into crypto automatically, or hold it in fiat. The card is non-custodial, meaning users retain full control over their funds. The launch follows Baanx's April 30 announcement and comes at a time when household purchases dominate crypto card usage, making up 63% of total transactions. Discretionary categories like entertainment and fashion are also seeing increased adoption—an area the CL Card aims to tap into. Ledger's EVP of Consumer Services, Jean-Francois Rochet, said the product reflects the company's broader mission. 'We are excited to collaborate with Baanx to bring the CL Card to millions of users in the U.S., with great features for Bitcoin holders. As digital asset adoption accelerates, our goal is to ensure people can make the most out of their digital wealth anywhere, anytime in their lives.' 'Living the crypto life means having ownership, access, and real-world utility over your digital assets. We see the CL card as a tool for financial independence and a fuller asset ownership experience,' Rochet added. 'With 1% Bitcoin cashback and direct paycheck deposits, this is a huge moment for U.S. residents to securely spend and earn on their Bitcoin, with zero compromise on self-custody, enabled by the secure CL Card, powered by our partner Baanx," said Ariel Wengroff, Ledger's EVP of Communications and Marketing. The card will be available in the U.S. (excluding New York and Vermont) starting June 30, 2025. U.S. residents can sign up for early access and notifications. With crypto ownership in the U.S. reaching 28% and growing interest from institutional investors, Baanx and Ledger are positioning the CL Card as a practical gateway for people seeking real-world utility from their digital assets. Ledger and Baanx launch Bitcoin rewards debit card in the U.S. first appeared on TheStreet on May 29, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on May 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin and Web3 Wallet Firm Ledger Brings 'Crypto Life' Visa Card to U.S. Users
Cryptocurrency hardware wallet firm Ledger has launched its Crypto Life (CL) Visa card in the U.S., offering users 1% cashback in bitcoin (BTC) or USDC on purchases and the ability to directly deposit paychecks into the on-chain card account via bank transfer. Ledger's CL Visa card is facilitated by fiat-to-on-chain card enabler Baanx, which also provides self-custody crypto cards for the likes of MetaMask, Tools for Humanity and most recently wallet firm Exodus. Big card networks Mastercard and Visa are aligning themselves with the self-custodial crypto world and the rapid growth in areas like stablecoin payments. Data on CL card usage shows household purchases dominated crypto card usage at 63% of total transactions, with entertainment and fashion categories showing the strongest growth. Jean-Francois Rochet, EVP of Consumer Services at Ledger, said the collaboration brings the CL card to millions of users in the U.S. with attractive cashback features for bitcoin holders. 'Living the crypto life means having ownership, access and real world utility over your digital assets,' he said in a statement. 'The CL Card, designed for Ledger, is a step toward mainstream, non-custodial crypto payments—right in your pocket', said Simon Jones, Chief Commercial Officer of Baanx. The CL Card will be available in the U.S. (excluding New York and Vermont) on June 30, 2025.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Wallet Firm Exodus Unveils Crypto Debit Card With Baanx
U.S.-listed Exodus Movement (EXOD), a self-custody wallet firm specializing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has unveiled an Exodus debit card in partnership with Baanx, a crypto card enabler that works with Mastercard and Visa. Through the Baanx partnership, Exodus users can spend their crypto on everyday purchases such as travel, online shopping, and anywhere Mastercard is accepted, the firms announced at the BTC Vegas conference on Tuesday. Bringing debit card functionality to self-custody crypto holders is a fast-growing subset of the digital assets space, attracting a range of popular platforms such as Ethereum wallet firm MetaMask, decentralized finance firm 1inch and most recently, Sam Altman's World Network. Beta testing of the virtual Exodus card begins at BTC Vegas, starting with the two major stablecoins, USDT and USDC, which users can instantly swap for bitcoin and other major cryptos inside the Exodus wallet. A wider rollout to the six million or so Exodus users will happen later this year, said Exodus CEO JP Richardson. 'If you consider there are 1.7 billion people who are unbanked out there, well now they don't need a bank account because they can use something like this,' Richardson said in an interview. Baanx chief commercial officer Simon Jones echoed this view: 'You are effectively saying that if you've got access to a mobile phone, you've got access to a range of basic financial services,' Jones said in an interview. 'Historically, wallets were very much focused around the custodial element with some swaps and trading. Now we are really seeing an evolution happen where your wallet is becoming your virtual account.' In December of 2024, Nebraska-based Exodus was given the greenlight to list on the NYSE American, the New York Stock Exchange's sibling market, not long after Donald Trump's election victory. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Visa and Baanx Launch USDC Stablecoin Payment Cards
Cryptocurrency debit card firm Baanx has partnered with Visa to launch stablecoin payment cards tied to self-custodial wallets, starting in the U.S. with Circle's USDC dollar pegged token, the companies said. The Visa cards enable holders to spend USDC directly from their crypto wallets, using smart contracts to move a stablecoin balance upon card authorization from the consumer to Baanx in real time, with Baanx converting the balance into fiat for payment, according to a press release on Wednesday. Allowing people to manage their money on-chain with the help of major card networks like Visa and Mastercard is a fast growing segment within crypto. Baanx, a firm that specializes in crypto debit cards, is also working with Mastercard on a card linked to MetaMask wallets. The stablecoin payment space is also heating up thanks to Circle recently announcing its own payment network focused initially on cross-border payments and remittances. Baanx's stablecoin-linked Visa cards promise a global reach with low-cost cross border payments in the mix, according to the release. 'In many regions, access to stable currency is a luxury. We're giving people the ability to hold and spend USD-backed stablecoins seamlessly — in a self-custodial, real-time way — anywhere Visa is accepted. This is what the future of finance looks like,' said Simon Jones, chief commercial officer at Baanx in a statement. 'We know the payments ecosystem is still in the early innings of stablecoin adoption, but real-world utility is coming to the forefront, and we're excited for what's next,' said Rubail Birwadker, Visa's head of growth products and partnerships in a statement. Sign in to access your portfolio
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Stablecoin Cards: Visa's Bet On Crypto Wallets As Financial Super Apps
In a significant development for cryptocurrency adoption, Baanx has announced a partnership with Visa to launch stablecoin-linked cards tied directly to self-custodial wallets. The new offering will initially roll out in the United States before expanding to additional markets globally, coming just days after Mastercard unveiled its own comprehensive stablecoin strategy with partners OKX and Nuvei. The new Baanx-Visa partnership enables crypto users to spend USDC (a fiat-backed stablecoin) directly from their self-custodial wallets at any merchant accepting Visa. The system works through smart contracts that move stablecoin balances from the consumer to Baanx in real time upon card authorization, with Baanx handling the conversion to fiat for payment settlement. This announcement represents a major advancement in solving what industry insiders call the "last mile problem" in cryptocurrency: enabling everyday spending of digital assets without sacrificing the self-custody principles that distinguish crypto from traditional finance. "Stablecoin cards represent a massive leap forward for global financial access," said Simon Jones, Chief Commercial Officer at Baanx, in the official announcement. "In many regions, access to stable currency is a luxury. We're giving people the ability to hold and spend USD-backed stablecoins seamlessly, in a self-custodial, real-time way, anywhere Visa is accepted." This approach to financial access aligns with Jones' broader vision: "Two or three years ago, crypto was very much its own thing. FinTech was very much its own thing [...] I think now what we're increasingly seeing is that the wallet space is becoming much more FinTech focused and FinTech is becoming much more crypto focused." The implications extend well beyond crypto enthusiasts. For users in emerging markets facing currency volatility and limited banking options, stablecoin cards could provide unprecedented access to dollar-denominated spending power without requiring traditional banking relationships. Stablecoins have emerged as crypto's breakthrough application, with over $200 billion in circulation and over 30 million addresses transacting monthly on public blockchains. In the first half of 2024 alone, stablecoins settled over $2.6 trillion in value. Visa's involvement signals growing institutional recognition of stablecoins' potential for practical payments applications. "We know the payments ecosystem is still in the early innings of stablecoin adoption, but real-world utility is coming to the forefront," noted Rubail Birwadker, Head of Growth Products and Partnerships at Visa. Cuy Sheffield, Global Head of Crypto at Visa, elaborated on this vision: The Baanx solution leverages high-performance blockchain networks like Ethereum layer 2s and Solana to enable instant transaction settlement. This infrastructure allows for a streamlined user experience compared to earlier crypto payment solutions that required multiple confirmations or pre-funding of custodial accounts. Jones predicts significant expansion of wallet-linked cards in the coming year: 'I think of the larger wallets, at least 60 or 70 percent of them will have a card within them within the next 12 months.' The partnership builds on growing momentum in the self-custodial card space. Earlier collaboration between Baanx and MetaMask resulted in the MetaMask Card, which similarly enables spending crypto assets held in self-custodial wallets via MasterCard. The MetaMask Card, launched in multiple regions including the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, demonstrated the feasibility of non-custodial card payments and set a precedent for this new Visa partnership. Sheffield sees this as part of a larger trend: What differentiates these offerings from traditional crypto cards is that users maintain control of their assets until the moment of transaction, rather than depositing funds with a custodial service provider. When a user taps their card at a point of sale, the system verifies sufficient wallet balance and executes an on-chain transaction, converting the stablecoin to fiat currency that the merchant receives. While Baanx and Visa are starting with the United States, both companies have expressed ambitions for rapid international expansion. Baanx currently powers crypto payment solutions for six of the top ten self-custodial wallets globally. During a recent interview, Cuy Sheffield, Global Head of Crypto at Visa, observed that while tens of millions of people are already monthly active users of self-custodial wallets, only a small percentage currently have cards linked to those wallets. "If you look at all the consumers who have money in a self-custodial wallet, how many of them are active users of a card connected to that self-custodial wallet, I would say is a very small percentage overall today," Sheffield noted. "I think we fast forward a few years from now as the barrier to entry for a consumer to get a card, as it gets easier and easier with products that Baanx is bringing to market with many of these wallets, I think we'll see a much greater number of consumers who are already storing value there, already using a wallet, now having a card linked to that wallet." The growth of self-custodial stablecoin cards may accelerate changes in banking business models. By separating payments functionality from custody and lending, these offerings challenge traditional models where banks rely on deposits from transaction accounts to fund lending operations. Jones sees novel use cases emerging: "One of the other use cases that I would also highlight is the ability to be able to spend money quickly. There are actually a huge amount of use cases in industry, for example in travel. Things move around the world, money has to travel with them. But the problem at the moment is that people often travel faster than money does, and that creates friction. You can start to remove a lot of that immediately by using stablecoins and the ability to spend a stablecoin that you receive in real time." For consumers, the benefit is maintaining control of their assets while gaining seamless spending capabilities. For merchants, stablecoin settlement could eventually enable faster payment receipt than traditional card networks provide. Perhaps the most transformative potential for stablecoin cards lies in regions with volatile local currencies or limited banking infrastructure. Jones has highlighted this opportunity: "I look at Argentina as a good use case for that, where if you want a US dollar denominated account, you have to have a certain amount of money to be able to deposit. I think it's $10,000, which for the average Argentinian is a huge amount of money. So the idea that you could automatically kind of keep your funds in dollars if you want to, but then have the ability to spend in the dollars on a card is actually quite compelling in terms of purchasing power parity." Sheffield reinforces this global vision: 'We think there's a massive opportunity globally, and we're still at the very, very early stages. If you have $100 of USDC in your wallet today, where can you spend it? Good luck going and trying to scan QR codes and figuring out, okay, which merchant accepts, which doesn't. If you can embed a Visa credential into that wallet, if we can have partners like Baanx be able to put those cards in every self-custodial wallet, you don't have to think about it.'
