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November 25, 2024
Crypto

Mastercard, Binance to launch their second prepaid crypto card in Latin America

By akohad Jan31,2023

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Credit card giant Mastercard has teamed up with the world’s largest crypto exchange to launch another prepaid crypto card in Latin America.

On Jan. 30, Binance announced the launch of the Binance Card in Brazil. The new card is issued by Dock, a payment institution regulated by Banco Central do Brasil, Brazil’s central bank.

The new card will allow new and existing Binance users in the country with valid national IDs to make purchases and pay bills with crypto assets. The card is in a beta testing phase and will be “widely available in the coming weeks,” according to Binance.

Brazil is the second country where Binance has launched the product, following Argentina in August. According to the announcement, Brazil is among the top 10 markets for Binance globally.

In a press release shared with Cointelegraph, Guilherme Nazar, Binance Brazil’s general manager, said that the card is a “significant step in encouraging wider crypto use and global adoption,” adding:

“Payments is one of the first and most obvious use cases for crypto, yet adoption has a lot of room to grow.”

The card will allow real-time conversion from 14 crypto assets to fiat at the point of sale. Perks include up to 8% cash back in crypto on eligible purchases and zero fees on some ATM withdrawals.

According to Mastercard’s 2022 New Payments Index, Brazil leads the global average for crypto usage and adoption. In the global survey of more than 35,000 respondents, it found that 49% of Brazilians have made at least one crypto-related transaction in the past year, compared to the global average of 41%.

Related: Coinbase CEO urges Bitcoin legal tender for Brazil, Argentina — Reaction

In December, outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill to legalize the use of cryptocurrency as a payment method within the country.

The new legislation has not made Bitcoin legal tender, as in El Salvador, but it includes many digital assets under the definition of legal payment methods. A licensing regime for virtual asset service providers was also established.