• According to the latest report, crypto exchange Binance has launched a prepaid card for Brazilian users in partnership with financial services company MasterCard. 

• Pending the official introduction in February, the product is currently in the beta stage.

Brazil is one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world with about 10 million users as of 2022. This represented 5 percent of the total population. The country was reported to have no established crypto regulation yet. However, a proposed bill has been in discussion by the House of Commons. This will ensure additional security for active and potential investors and improve oversight of all related companies. According to the latest report, crypto exchange Binance has launched a prepaid card for Brazilian users in partnership with financial services company MasterCard.

Pending the official introduction in February, the product is currently in the beta stage. The full implementation will make it possible for Binance customers to pay bills and shop with the card. Binance has recently prioritized bridging the gap between the traditional finance world and the fast-growing industry of digital assets. Binance and MasterCard launched similar products in Argentina, which is also among the biggest economies in the region. Cardholders can manage their card through the card dashboard on the Binance App and website.

Maximiliano Hinz, general director of Binance in Latin America said:

Payments are one of the first and most obvious use cases for crypto, yet adoption has a lot of room to grow. By using the Binance Card, merchants continue to receive fiat and the users pay in the cryptocurrency they choose. We believe the Binance Card is a significant step in encouraging wider crypto use and global adoption and now it is available for users from Argentina.

MasterCard double down effort on crypto involvement

In the last few years, MasterCard has been so much involved in cryptos with the company partnering with crypto company Paxos to come up with a trading program strictly focused on the financial institution. Cardholders were able to purchase Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in June 2022 on most of the known marketplaces. MasterCard’s crypto involvement has been closely followed by its rival. Visa earlier announced a deal with the defunct FTX exchange. The bill has, however, been terminated following the recent collapse of the FTX ecosystem.

Our work with digital currencies builds on our strong foundation to enable choice and peace of mind when people shop and pay. Together with our partners, Mastercard has been leading the payments industry in enabling entry to this exciting new world, helping bring millions of additional users into crypto and other digital assets in a safe and trusted manner.

Mastercard’s New Payments Index 2022 disclosed that 51 percent of consumers in the region have already made transactions with crypto assets. Also, 54 percent of Latino consumers are optimistic about the performance of cryptos as an investment. In addition, two-thirds of the respondents look forward to the flexibility to use crypto and traditional payment methods interchangeably in their usual operations.

Elon Musk wants the Twitter payments system built with crypto in mind

In other news, Elon Musk has instructed developers to build Twitter’s payment system in such a way that it would support crypto functionality in the future. According to reports, the payment feature would be built to support fiat currencies for the start.