Major fintech company Wirecard, which issues Crypto.com’s debit cards, has fallen into controversy as some of its employees appear to have defrauded the company. As reported by the Financial Times on June 18, auditors from Big Four accounting company EY “could not confirm the existence of €1.9bn in cash,” or about $2.1 billion. According to a statement from the company, a trustee of Wirecard’s bank accounts attempted to deceive the auditor and falsely indicate the existence of the cash balance. The company’s stock price plummeted by almost 50% on Thursday after the issue came to light. According to earlier reporting …

As a sector, plastic cryptocurrency cards have had a bumpy ride. While for some they are the perfect way to spend those hard-stacked sats, it has evidently been a struggle for crypto companies to provide such a service. Wracked by regulation, supplier issues and the volatility of digital assets, crypto debit cards have had a rough start. Nonetheless, crypto debit card use is growing and is considered an important development for the growth in the adoption of crypto around the world. So, in which countries are most of the crypto cards available? Wirex Wirex is a London-based crypto debit card …

Celsius Network is expanding its partnership with fiat-to-crypto payments provider, Simplex, by enabling its users to buy more crypto with credit and debit cards. Celsius, a major crypto lending startup, now allows its users to purchase gold-backed stablecoin Tether Gold (XAUT) using debit and credit cards. Announcing the news on May 28, Celsius said that the minimum purchase amount for XAUT is $50, while the annual interest rate accounts for 4%. Tether Gold was rolled out for depositing on Celsius app earlier in May Alongside Tether Gold, the new integration with Simplex also unlocks credit and debit card purchases for …

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) aren’t really easy to spend in day-to-day life, mainly because retailers prefer to stay away from crypto’s volatility. In order to build a bridge between traditional finance and emergent assets like Bitcoin, a Swiss crypto startup called Eidoo has introduced a new Visa crypto debit card that uses regulated stablecoins for crypto-to-fiat conversion. The so-called Eidoo Card has been approved for operation by payment giant Visa. Announcing the news on May 25, Eidoo told Cointelegraph that its new card will enable 40 million Visa merchants to accept crypto-derived fiat currencies, including the British pound (GBP) and …

Leading cryptocurrency payments platform Crypto.com announced that it has received regulatory approval for its Visa card program in Canada, and will soon be rolling out MCO Visa cards in the country. MCO Visa cards are prepaid cards that can be topped up with cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), XRP, and Crypto.com’s native MCO token. The company said that citizens of Canada can now book their crypto cards through a three-minute customer onboarding process and ID verification on the Crypto.com App. This comes only a few days after the company announced that it was expanding its MCO Visa …

Liechtenstein-based international cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Global has rolled out credit and debit card support for 125 more countries. Following an earlier introduction of the service for residents in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, the exchange announced its significant global extension of Visa support on April 20. In addition to making fiat deposits and trading directly using their Visa cards, users can now access further features such as conditional orders and trading with euros on the platform’s recently-launched Bittrex Euromarkets. Stephen Stonberg, chief financial and operating officer for Bittrex Global has said that Visa support is an important …

Crypto debit card BlockCard, built by blockchain company Ternio, has increased user rewards to almost 7%. “Starting April 14th, all BlockCard users (existing and new) will be entitled to earn 6.38% back in cryptocurrency rewards on all BlockCard purchases - with no ceiling on the amount they can earn,” Ternio founder and COO Ian Kane told Cointelegraph. “You can spend $100 or $100,000 and earn 6.38% on all merchant purchases.” Many mainstream stores do not directly accept crypto assets as a payment option. BlockCard works like a normal debit card, except with crypto backing. The card allows users to transfer …

The Fold app — a Lightning-compatible mobile app that offers users Bitcoin rewards (BTC) while shopping — has joined Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program. Joining the program will enable the app to launch a new Visa co-branded card, which continues the offer of Bitcoin rewards for purchases made at retailers. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Fold’s CEO Will Reeves said that Visa would be providing the company with financial support and a dedicated team to bring the new Bitcoin cash-back rewards card to market. Earn, don’t spend, your Bitcoin As reported, the Fold app has so far been offering users the ability …

Switzerland-based crypto exchange, ShapeShift, has enabled its United States-based customers to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) with a debit card in the new exchange’s platform. ShapeShift’s founder, Eric Voorhees, announced the development in a tweet on April 3, saying: “If you're in the US, you can buy Bitcoin instantly in the new ShapeShift.com platform with your debit card. You can literally have the Bitcoin, in your possession, five minutes from now.” KYC processes compliance ShapeShift’s new platform doesn’t require account verification to purchase cryptocurrencies, which has led to questions from the tweet’s commentators. When asked about the project’s Know-Your-Customer …

Binance enters the crypto debit card sector with news of an official Binance Card on March 26. Issued by Visa, the card will initially be available in South East Asia, though other regions will be unlocked soon, the company states. Like most other crypto cards, the Binance Card allows its users to spend their cryptocurrencies by converting them into fiat and piggy-backing off established debit card networks. A fairly unique aspect of the Binance Card is that its internal balance will be in cryptocurrencies, initially Binance Coin (BNB) and Bitcoin (BTC). As Josh Goodbody, head of growth at Binance Card, …

Coinbase Card users owning supported Android phones can now avoid using the physical card. Through an integration with Google Pay announced on March 17, the card can be emulated by a mobile phone. The Coinbase Card connects a holder’s cryptocurrency balance on the exchange, which is then used for spending crypto via an instant conversion to fiat. The card can only be issued to residents of the European Union and European Economic Area, as well as the United Kingdom. Once issued, the card can be used anywhere Visa is supported. Google Pay emulates the physical card for offline purchases by …

Digital payment platform Uphold has announced a new debit card, allowing users to pay with converted crypto, commodities and cash. Uphold’s new multi-asset debit card allows United States-based participants to spend assets held in their Uphold accounts at any Mastercard compatible location, a representative from Uphold told Cointelegraph in an interview. “Anywhere globally where Mastercard is accepted, they will be able to use this debit card,” she said. United States-based customers can now join a waitlist to get the card, which touts compatibility for 24 crypto assets, 27 fiat currencies, and four metals including Bitcoin (BTC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), …