A Race To Dominate Crypto Debit Cards Has Begun

Mid-June 2020, the Wirecard empire collapsed after a scandal that shook the world. The fintech (fintech) darling is now being pulled into controversy in the financial world. Glorious times before this information was exposed, Wirecard emerged as the dominant player, leader in the crypto debit card space. But now, as Wirecard is preparing preliminary bankruptcy proceedings, the race to find the king to dominate the electronic card market has begun.

The stained past of crypto debit cards

Last June, fintech company Wirecard filed for default in the amount of 1.9 billion euros ($ 2.1 billion), admitting that the 1.9 billion euro amount not in the account does not exist. Soon after, Markus Braun, former chief executive of Wirecard, was arrested on charges of manipulating financial markets. This is not the first electronic card, and it is not the last card that is subject to the strict scrutiny of regulators over their business activities in the crypto debit card sector.

Earlier, in 2018, there was also a disturbance caused by WaveCresr, a global digital payment solutions provider. This unit was required to close and withdraw all the Visa prepaid cards they issued by Visa V. Visa's request caused many of the electronic prepaid cards of users in Europe to freeze. Visa announced that WaveCrest business did not comply with Visa's membership regulations, but did not give specific information about the alleged non-compliance. 

The German Wirecard financial technology 'empire' is now a thing of the past. (Source: Reuters)

Another streak came from the 2017 ICO craze when Central Tech made announcements that it would launch Centra tokens. The smart card is said to be the latest solution for use at Visa and Mastercard MA terminals to perform all payment transactions by seizing customers' cryptocurrencies. They expand the market by hiring celebrities like boxer Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled to promote their ICO media. After a delay in not putting the Centra card into use, Robert Farkas, co-founder of Central Tech, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and transfer.

Reputable lending business

Visa published a blog titled "Enhancing Our Approach to Cryptocurrencies" in July 2020. In this article, Visa emphasizes its vision for digital money. They have a long-term business strategy, connect with blockchain companies, Visa intends to build and provide a range of new technology features to customers:

  • Work with licensed and regulated crypto platforms like Fold and Coinbase.
  • Bridges Visa's crypto network and 61 million merchants worldwide.

In the development of the cryptocurrency service, the hero Mastercard is also contributing a part to help digital money companies issue personal branded payment cards more easily as the emerge. Wirex's recent show.

  • Companies in the crypto space are licensed to issue cards on Mastercard's network.
  • Wirex became the first cryptocurrency platform to gain a primary membership.

PayPal also chose Venmo as a joint partnership to enter the crypto space. Through the Venmo app, PayPal's 265 million users can buy bitcoin directly. According to Coindesk, within the next 3 months, PayPal can begin to expand bitcoin payments worldwide.

The crypto industry is also making great strides in card issuance. For example, Binance recently announced that their payment card, the Binance card will expand its corridor into Europe in 2021.

It is expected that the next time inflation will increase. Many people are worried that their deposit in the bank will receive a smaller bank interest rate than the inflation rate. Ed Yardeni, head of Yardeni Research told CNBC, "We believe the Fed publicly will welcome inflation in the 2% to 4% range as a long-overdue offset for inflation below 2% in the past. past. "If the Fed really doubles inflation; then, this bodes not only well for bitcoin but also for DeFi blockchain products.  

Competition and trust of crypto tokens 

While cryptocurrency prepaid cards are understood to be a key financial tool for applying blockchain in a traditional way, there is still a long way to go. In the past 3 years, the scandals have once again lost consumer confidence, affecting the process of building the crypto space. 

Although crypto tokens are an important financial tool for mainstream adoption of blockchain, they still have a long way to go. From 2017-2020, scandals hit the crypto card landscape. For that reason, it is very likely that consumer confidence has eroded. With Wirecard out of the picture, Visa quickly joined in to fill the void of the Wirecard-Crypto.com partnership and launch the MCO card through Crypto.com. Corporate companies like Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal have shown a lot of interest in the crypto rewards/card space. This is why the competition in the debit crypto card space will become fierce.