Mastercard expands support for self-custodial crypto wallets with Mercuryo

Mila September 5, 2024

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Background photo by Kir on Unsplash, with modifications from author.

Key Takeaways

Mastercard’s new debit card allows spending crypto at over 100 million merchants.
The card incurs fees including issuance, maintenance, and transaction charges.

Mastercard has launched a new euro-denominated debit card allowing users to spend cryptocurrencies stored in self-custodial wallets at over 100 million Mastercard merchants worldwide. The move builds on the company’s growing efforts to support non-custodial wallets and bridge traditional finance with crypto.

The global payments giant has partnered with European crypto payments infrastructure provider Mercuryo to offer the new card. It enables spending of self-held cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin directly from non-custodial wallets, without requiring users to transfer funds to a centralized exchange first.

Self-custody comes first

This collaboration follows Mastercard’s pilot program with major self-custodial wallet MetaMask earlier in August. Back in May, Mastercard unveiled the “Mastercard Crypto Credential,” facilitating the sending and receiving of crypto using aliases, as part of its efforts to assimilate blockchain with traditional financial frameworks.

The company is increasingly focused on supporting self-custody solutions, which allow users to maintain full control of their crypto assets without relying on third-party custodians.

Christian Rau, senior vice president of Mastercard’s crypto and fintech enablement, stated that the partnership aims to eliminate barriers between blockchain and conventional payments.

“[We are] providing consumers who want to spend their digital assets with an easy, reliable, and secure way to do so, anywhere Mastercard is accepted,” Rau explained.

Mastercard’s blockchain lead Raj Dhamodharan noted that supporting self-custody addresses complexities around buying and selling crypto via centralized exchanges — a process many crypto holders try to avoid. The new card offers an alternative for users who prefer to maintain direct control of their assets.

Sapphire

Crypto adoption, real-world utility

While expanding crypto adoption, Mastercard’s services come with associated fees. The new Mercuryo-issued card has a €1.6 issuance fee, €1 monthly maintenance fee, and 0.95% off-ramp fee. These costs reflect the infrastructure required to connect self-custodial crypto wallets with traditional payment networks.

By enabling direct spending of self-held crypto at millions of merchants, Mastercard is positioning itself as a key bridge between decentralized digital assets and everyday commerce. This move could accelerate mainstream adoption of self-custodial wallets while expanding real-world utility for crypto.