A recent announcement on X states that users of the hi debit Mastercard can now spend the SAND token of the Metaverse platform Sandbox in markets that are eligible within the European Economic Area. Users can already spend USDT, ether (ETH), and bitcoin (BTC) with this card.
The massive Metaverse gaming and venture capital firm Animoca Brands, which in July invested $30 million in hi, a cryptocurrency payments app, is the parent company of Sandbox. Hi functions as a neobank and offers banking services, enabling users to transact in fiat or cryptocurrency through a digital-only application.
According to co-founder Sean Rach, the debit card—which also allows for NFT customization—was introduced in 2022, but the first shipment of NFT-customized cards wasn’t received until recently.
“Developing the greatest user experience for our community has involved a protracted process of product design and development. We’re also considering adding more tokens to the Animoca ecosystem,” the speaker stated.
The NFT cards are coming out just two months after Mastercard and Visa dissolved their alliances with Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. In response to a CoinDesk request for the most recent information, Mastercard maintained its position at the time without offering any explanation for its choice to break ties with Binance. At the time, CoinDesk reported that it was unlikely that the development would harm Binance.
Arriving barely two months after Mastercard and Visa severed their relationships with Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange globally, are the NFT cards. Mastercard maintained the same position in response to a CoinDesk request for the most recent development at the time, but it did not give any explanation for its decision to break ties with Binance.
Several cryptocurrency payment companies, such as Baanx, Credencial Payments, Episode 6, Immersve, Monavate, Moorwand, PayCaddy, Paymentology, Pomelo, Swap, and Unlimit, are in partnerships with Mastercard.