Crypto.com Expands Card To 31 Countries

Digital-payments company i2c Inc. has unveiled a partnership to power the expansion of Crypto.com’s end-to-end crypto ecosystem, which consists of a Visa crypto debit card and a wallet app to buy and sell crypto and earn cash-back rewards in crypto form.

Crypto.com currently offers the system in the United States, Singapore and the United Kingdom, but is expanding it to 31 European countries, according to a press release.

“The current economic climate of uncertainty is only reinforcing the trend among consumers for flexible financial solutions that are accessible and easy to use, and map to their on-demand, digital lives,” i2c Inc. President Jim McCarthy said in the release. “The strong enrollment response in Europe to the Crypto.com payments solution indicates consumers are ready for an alternative to traditional money systems that puts them squarely in control of their finances and investments. i2c is proud to be helping Crypto.com bring optional payment solutions to the world.”

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said in the release that his firm initially partnered with i2c three years ago “in anticipation of our global strategy because of the integration it has with banks and card networks worldwide. i2c’s cloud-based platform powers a customized, ‘plug-n-play’ solution so we didn’t have to start from scratch in each market integrating into multiple processors.”

Marszalek said Crypto.com is expanding access to its system “at a pivotal time when trust in financial markets is wavering and people are turning to digital currencies as a clear plan B to traditional financial structures,” according to the release.

Using the system that i2c built for Crypto.com, customers can top-up their no-fee Visa crypto debit cards by converting crypto to fiat currencies from a crypto wallet on the Crypto.com app. They can directly top-up their cards for free, or top-up fiat currencies directly from their fiat wallets on Crypto.com.

Some versions of the Visa crypto debit card also come with bonus features like free airport-lounge access; a 100 percent rebate on Spotify, Netflix and Amazon Prime; and a Google rate for foreign currency exchanges.

Hong Kong-headquartered Crypto.com, which launched in 2016, has more than 250 staffers and over 2 million users on its platform.