MetaMask expands debit card across U.S. after year-long pilot

• MetaMask is expanding the U.S. reach of its blockchain-based debit card with a nationwide rollout following a year-long pilot program.
• The non-custodial card now works everywhere Mastercard is accepted, including support for digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• It joins a market that already features a number of competitors, including cards on the Visa network.

MetaMask is expanding the reach of its blockchain-based debit card in the U.S. after a year-long trial and receiving permission to enter New York for the first time.

The U.S. test period followed a pilot phase in Europe and the U.K. that started in 2024. The rollout includes product refinements to bring crypto payments into everyday commerce, MetaMask announced Thursday.

“We designed the MetaMask Card to make crypto disappear. Not go away, but become so seamlessly woven into daily life that the line between onchain and offchain fades away entirely,” said Gal Eldar, a product lead at MetaMask, in a press release shared with CoinDesk.

The MetaMask Card, developed with payment giant Mastercard and crypto payment provider Baanx, joins a market that already features a number of competitors including crypto exchanges Coinbase (COIN) and Crypto.com, though many require users to deposit their crypto on the card issuers' platform.

MetaMask began a limited rollout of its blockchain-based debit card to a few thousand users in the European Union and U.K. in August 2024, with customers allowed to make purchases using USDC, USDT and wETH held on the layer-2 network Linea, an Ethereum-based chain developed by Consensys, MetaMask’s parent. The U.S. pilot started in December 2024.

MetaMask says the card now works everywhere Mastercard is accepted, including support for digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and offers onchain cashback rewards and yield options on unspent balances via DeFi protocols. The company is also offering a premium MetaMask Metal Card, priced at $199 a year.

“We’ve seen tens of thousands of users around the world use it for everything from morning coffee to engagement rings, and now we’re excited to bring that to U.S. users, including places like New York that previously haven’t had access.” Eldar wrote in the press release.

Read more: MetaMask Starts Rollout of Blockchain-Based Debit Card Developed With Mastercard, Baanx

• Federal prosecutors say Christopher Alexander Delgado, 34, was arrested in Florida on charges that he ran a $328 million crypto-linked Ponzi scheme through his company, Goliath Ventures.
• Authorities allege Delgado promised investors "guaranteed" or low-risk monthly returns of 3 to 8 percent from cryptocurrency liquidity pools but instead used new investor money to pay earlier participants and fund withdrawals.
• Investigators say blockchain analysis shows only about $1.5 million was sent to a crypto platform, with most funds never placed into liquidity pools, and law enforcement is urging potential victims to contact authorities as the case proceeds.

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