A major decentralized cryptocurrency platform backed by the Tump family, World Liberty Financial, has just announced it will launch a crypto debit card and retail application to plug the project’s stablecoin into everyday payments, including Apple Pay integration. As reported by Coindesk, the retail app will merge peer-to-peer transfers with trading features and is expected to be at the core of World Liberty’s push into consumer markets and cutting out traditional banking intermediaries.
The news follows an announcement by the popular messaging app LINE that it will launch a stablecoin super app, allowing users to send and receive cross-border payments via messages, and make online and in-store payments worldwide with spending rewards. As we reported in yesterday’s edition of Crypto Finance Asia, these developments underscore the debanking revolution that is unfolding with the speed, efficiency and low transfer costs of cryptocurrencies.
In an interview last month with Fox News, Eric Trump – the main executive behind World Liberty – claimed his passion for crypto came as a result of his family being “debanked” and “abruptly excluded from the financial system” as part of a broader campaign against his family and conservatives. “Capital One [Bank] stripped 300 bank accounts from me in the middle of the night,” he noted. “This wasn’t just happening to the Trumps. This was happening to conservatives all over the country.”
Eric Trump said he didn’t have a “damn choice” but to pivot toward cryptocurrency. “It has become the fastest-growing industry anywhere in the world. It has removed a lot of the power from the big banks, who have weaponized their platforms against the American people…”
How do crypto debit cards work?
For those unfamiliar with crypto, a crypto debit card allows holders to top up their card with crypto and spend it for every day payments, similar to any other debit card except payments are deducted from one’s crypto, not fiat. The cards are typically in partnership with Visa or Mastercard – and hence they are accepted by any retail outlet that excepts credit card payments. This is a notable use-case for crypto, as users can essentially live off their crypto investments without the cumbersome process of “off-ramping” to fiat. It also cuts out the traditional banking system, which is mired by inefficiencies, high transfer costs, and turtle-pace cross-border payment times.
As we have consistently reported in our newsletter, the traditional banking system and their cross-border payment solutions are outdated (by decades) and the industry now faces their “Kodak Moment” as blockchain technology is disrupting this antiquated system.
In 1975, a Kodak engineer invented the first digital camera and in 1986 Kodak’s research labs developed the first mega-pixel camera. However, executives failed to make the right strategic choices to push into the digital camera sector, and, well, the rest is history.
“A generation ago, a “Kodak moment” meant something that was worth saving and savoring. Today, the term increasingly serves as a corporate bogeyman that warns executives of the need to stand up and respond when disruptive developments encroach on their market.”