TechFlow news, August 14 — According to CoinDesk, MetaMask announced a collaboration with payment giant Mastercard and crypto payments specialist Baanx to launch a blockchain-powered debit card. The card will first be piloted among a limited number of users in the European Union and the UK, with broader distribution expected later this year, followed by a "full rollout" in the EU and UK, and additional pilots in other regions over the coming quarters.
The card functions similarly to a typical debit card but enables purchases directly using digital assets held in a user's self-custodied MetaMask wallet. This means users retain custody of their funds until the moment of payment. Users will be able to spend cryptocurrencies including USDC, USDT, and wETH held on the Linea blockchain. Linea is an Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by Consensys, the same company behind MetaMask.
