New Nexo Crypto Debit Card Lets Users Pay Without Selling Crypto

Nexo, a major cryptocurrency loan company, has officially launched a Mastercard that is crypto-backed–enabling users to pay for services using their cryptocurrency holdings, without having to sell their cryptocurrency tokens and coins first.

The firm announced on Wednesday that they have partnered with Mastercard and the peer-to-peer payment startup, DiPocket, to launch the Nexo Card. Using the Nexo Card, users will be able to use their cryptocurrency as collateral instead of selling it, according to Nexo. The collateral will be subject to repayments in accordance with Nexo’s terms and conditions.

To facilitate these crypto-based payments, the card will link to Nexo’s crypto-backed credit line. This will allow users to use several assets as collateral, including Ether (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), the Tether (USDT) stablecoin, and a number of other digital assets.

A spokesperson for Nexo said in a recent interview that, “The Nexo Card functions through Nexo’s crypto-backed credit lines, which means that funds for your purchases come from your available credit line while your digital asset portfolio remains intact.”

According to the firm, the product is the first of its kind, crypto-backed Mastercard credit card, and Nexo Card’s credit line will start and stay at the 0% annual percentage rate. There will also be no minimum repayment requirements and the card will not take foreign exchange fees for up to 20,000 euros, approximately $21,700.

Nexo anticipates that 92 million merchants worldwide, who already accept Mastercard, will also accept the Nexo Card. This will allow investors to spend up to 90% of the fiat value of their cryptocurrency in a matter of seconds.