Mastercard has partnered with Mercury, a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services company, to launch a euro-denominated debit card that will allow users to spend Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies directly from non-custodial wallets, According to Cointelegraph.
BREAKING: 🇪🇺 Mastercard launches non-retention Euro card #Bitcoin And the encrypted debit card.
They have over 100 million merchants 🚀 pic.twitter.com/xpASRDrhVx
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) September 5, 2024
The card allows European Bitcoin holders to spend funds from their self-hosted wallets at any of Mastercard’s 100 million+ merchants worldwide without having to hold funds with an intermediary.
Mastercard is a payments giant serving nearly a billion customers in more than 210 countries. This latest integration reflects the company’s growing efforts to connect Bitcoin to the sprawling traditional payments infrastructure.
“We offer consumers who want to spend their digital assets an easy, reliable and secure way to do so, anywhere Mastercard is accepted.” Christian Rau saidSenior Vice President, Crypto at Mastercard.
The card allows users to spend Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies simply by linking a non-custodial wallet. Users avoid selling Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies on an exchange before spending, while maintaining full ownership. However, the Mastercard does have fees, including a €1.6 issuance fee, a €1 monthly maintenance fee, and a 0.95% transaction fee.
However, by supporting non-custodial wallets, Mastercard addresses a major weakness and gives users the flexibility to directly control their Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. The move caters to a growing audience that prefers self-hosted wallets over centralized exchanges.