Tangem launched its first physical Visa card, with an initial issuance of 5,000 cards

Swiss cryptocurrency wallet provider Tangem announced the launch of its first physical Visa card, supporting offline and online spending as well as ATM withdrawals, with an initial issuance limited to 5,000 cards. Users can directly top up the card from their self-custody wallets and transfer funds back to the wallet when the card is suspended or closed. The card also offers cashback settled in USDC stablecoin issued by Circle, with Basic users receiving 1% and Plus users receiving 2% on qualifying purchases. Tangem plans to showcase the first batch of physical Tangem Pay cards at the Token2049 event in Singapore.

Tangem told Cointelegraph that over 40% of Tangem Pay's payments come from Latin America, with over 30% from the United States, while the supply of physical cards remains limited in some markets. Andrey Ilinskiy, head of Tangem Pay, stated that the issue is not just where people want crypto cards, but rather where demand, regulation, banking infrastructure, and issuance requirements align, and these maps do not always overlap.

Tangem stated that it is currently unable to ship physical Tangem Pay cards to about 20 countries, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Palestine. The company noted that these restrictions do not necessarily align with the rules of cryptocurrency itself, as KYC requirements, sanctions, local banking rules, and issuance compliance may all determine the availability of crypto-linked cards.