365Crypto
Mastercard has partnered with European crypto payments provider Mercuryo to launch a euro-denominated crypto debit card, allowing users to spend cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin directly from self-custodial wallets at over 100 million merchants in the Mastercard network. This move continues Mastercard’s push to bridge traditional finance and cryptocurrency, following a pilot with MetaMask in August.
Self-custodial wallets, unlike custodial ones, give users complete control over their funds by making them the sole custodians of their private keys. Mastercard aims to support the growing trend of self-custody, where users act as their own banks, taking full responsibility for their crypto assets. According to Christian Rau, Mastercard’s senior vice president of crypto and fintech enablement, this partnership with Mercuryo is part of the company’s broader effort to make self-custody more accessible and integrated with conventional payments.
Mastercard has been expanding its presence in the crypto space since announcing support for cryptocurrencies on its network in 2021. The company has partnered with several major industry players, including Circle and Coinbase, to provide more crypto services. The focus on self-custody is intended to simplify the complex process of buying and selling crypto, which many users prefer to handle outside of centralized exchanges.
While Mastercard’s crypto services come with some fees—such as the 1.60 euro issuance fee and 1 euro monthly maintenance fee for the Mercuryo-branded Spend card—the company aims to make crypto transactions more seamless and secure for everyday use.
