Avalanche is making it easier to spend cryptocurrency in the real world with the launch of the Avalanche Card, a new crypto-backed credit card that works anywhere Visa is accepted.
The card, developed in partnership with Rain, allows users to make purchases using USDC, USDT, Wrapped AVAX (wAVAX), and AVAX without needing to convert crypto into fiat first. It aims to remove the complexities of crypto payments, offering a seamless and familiar experience for users.
“With the Avalanche Card, your cryptocurrency is a tool for empowerment,” said John Wu, President of Ava Labs. “As digital assets garner mainstream adoption, leading with uses that are as familiar as swiping a credit card.”
The Avalanche Card is designed to make real-world transactions easier, especially in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where banking access can be limited. By allowing users to spend digital assets directly, Avalanche hopes to bridge the gap between traditional finance and crypto.
“With the Avalanche Card leveraging Visa’s vast acceptance network, crypto holders now have a seamless way to make everyday purchases using digital assets anywhere Visa is accepted,” said Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa.
The card offers conversionless spending, meaning users don’t have to manually convert their crypto into fiat before making purchases. This feature is particularly useful in regions where banking systems are slow or unreliable.
Avalanche is a high-speed blockchain platform designed for decentralized applications (dApps) and financial services. It uses the Avalanche Consensus Mechanism to achieve near-instant transaction finality and high throughput. The network enables developers to build customizable Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains with low fees and high scalability.
Avalanche has been working on expanding real-world utility for blockchain-based assets, and the Avalanche Card is a step toward making crypto as easy to use as traditional money.
“This represents an important step in expanding access to digital payments, especially in regions where financial inclusion remains a challenge,” Sheffield added.
According to the Avalanche Card website, the new crypto-backed credit card will be linked to users’ “new self-custody wallet and unique address per asset.”
Despite a general downturn in the cryptocurrency market, Avalanche’s native token, AVAX, has shown resilience. At the time of writing, AVAX is trading at $21.88, up 3% in the last 24 hours. This performance stands out, especially considering that major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have experienced significant declines, with Bitcoin falling below $90,000 amid broader market sell-offs.
