Credit card giant MasterCard has teamed up with the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance 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 the Brazilian Central Bank.
It 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 Binance has launched the product following Argentina in August 2022. According to the announcement, Brazil is among the top ten markets for Binance globally.
Olá, Brasil! #Binance Card has just launched in Brazil – another step towards crypto adoption pic.twitter.com/UJRmpMhpbQ
— Binance (@binance) January 30, 2023
In a press release shared with Cointelegraph, Guilherme Nazar, General Manager at Binance Brazil, said 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% cashback 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 legalized Bitcoin as tender as in El Salvador but includes many digital assets under the definition of legal payment methods. A licensing regime for virtual asset service providers was also established.
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