Binance – the world’s largest and most popular crypto exchange – is unveiling a new prepaid crypto-based credit card to be utilized by consumers in regions like Colombia.
The New Binance Card Will Be for Latin American Use
The South American nation has become one of the biggest adopters of bitcoin and other digital currencies in recent years. It is the third most active member of Latin America when it comes to crypto trading and related activities. Number one is Argentina, while Brazil is number two.
The goal of the card is to bridge the gap between standard financial institutions and crypto. Right now, the card is in a beta testing phase, though Binance executives believe the product should be available soon to the public.
The card, which is issued by Movii and comes with various crypto assets stored within, will enable users to make everyday purchases of products and services. Daniel Acosta – the general manager of Binance in Colombia – said in an interview:
As one of the world leaders in crypto adoption, Colombia is an extremely relevant market for Binance. We believe that the launch of [the] Binance Card will encourage even wider adoption of crypto among Colombians, contributing to the development of the blockchain and crypto ecosystem in the country while making another step to bring cryptocurrency closer to the everyday [lives] of millions of people.
The move is pushing the goals of bitcoin and its digital counterparts closer to being achieved. What many people likely forget is that while bitcoin and many of its crypto cousins have taken on either speculative or even hedge-like statuses in recent years, many of them were initially designed to serve as payment tools. They were built to push checks, credit cards, and fiat currencies to the side, but this has been a relatively slow journey given the volatility that continues to drag them down.
It is extremely hard to understand when bitcoin and its crypto family will go up or down when it comes to their prices. Many stores and companies have been reluctant to say “yes” when it comes to accepting crypto payments for this reason, and to a degree, we can’t blame them.
Using Crypto for Payments Has Been Hard
Consider the following scenario: someone walks into a store and buys $50 worth of merchandise with bitcoin. For one reason or another, the store doesn’t trade the BTC into fiat right away and about 24 hours go by. From there, the price of BTC goes down and that $50 becomes $40. The customer gets to keep everything he or she bought, but the store has lost money in the end. Is this a fair situation? Not everyone thinks so.
That’s what makes the card important. It understands the initial purposes of bitcoin and digital currencies and it’s trying to transform them into usable tools everyday people can benefit from.
