Nexo Launches Crypto-Backed Credit Card in Europe

Crypto service provider Nexo revealed today that it had partnered with DiPocket and Mastercard to launch a first-of-its-kind card in Europe that will let users collateralize their crypto assets to draw readily spendable fiat loans.

Nexo Launches Crypto Card in Europe

Nexo is releasing a Mastercard card, and customers will be able to get credit by using crypto as collateral.

In a Wednesday press release, Nexo announced that it had partnered with Mastercard and DiPocket to launch the first-in-kind crypto credit card in Europe. The new card, dubbed Nexo Card, will be linked to a crypto-backed credit line supplied by Nexo that will let users borrow and spend fiat currencies without selling their crypto. For clients who maintain a loan-to-value ratio below 20%, Nexo’s credit line will be available at zero cost.

Commenting on the new card launch, Nexo co-founder and managing partner Antoni Trenchev said that the product will help millions of people in Europe and then worldwide leverage their crypto holdings in order to spend instantly without having to sell them. “Launching the Nexo Card in Europe in partnership with Mastercard and DiPocket is a big milestone for us and the latest proof of the immense synergy between the existing financial network and digital assets,” he said in the press release.

According to the announcement, the service will accept multiple crypto assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether, as collateral, have dynamic credit lines with no minimum repayment requirements, and charge no forex fees for up to €20,000 ($21,672) per month. The Nexo Card will also be available in both virtual and physical form, integrated with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and offer 2% cashback paid out in Bitcoin or the firm’s NEXO token on every transaction. The firm also revealed that it had completed a successful partial roll-out of the Nexo Card targeting a focus group of consumers in a select group of European countries, showing that there is demand for the product.

Nexo is a leading multinational crypto service provider that lets users exchange, borrow, and stake cryptocurrencies to earn interest on its platform. The firm faced a hurdle last October when the Attorney General of New York State ordered it and its direct U.S.-based competitor Celsius to shut down operations in the state, contending that their lending products were securities that the companies were not licensed to offer to New York customers.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.