Ethereum Sidechain Gnosis Launches Visa-Backed Debit Card Directly Connected to Crypto Wallet

Blockchain network Gnosis has unveiled two products that allow users to spend their digital assets directly from wallets using Visa’s payment system.

Gnosis launched Gnosis Pay, pioneering the integration of decentralized payment networks with traditional processors, and Gnosis Card, a self-custodial Visa debit card directly linked to an on-chain wallet.

The announcement was made during the Ethereum Community Conference in Paris. Gnosis Pay operates as a layer 2 solution on the chain, ensuring faster and cost-effective transactions.

The services are initially available EU and EEA countries as well as the UK. Gnosis plans to expand into the US, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, and Hong Kong by the end of this year.

The Gnosis Card aims to ease the transition of crypto assets from centralized exchanges to self-custodial wallets, enhancing Gnosis’s blockchain ecosystem. This means that the Visa-powered debit card directly takes funds from the user’s wallet rather than requesting users to pre-pay the card.

“This is different from Web2 payment networks because you still have custody of your funds. It is different from Web3 payment cards because it is not prepaid,” Friederike Ernst, co-founder of Gnosis Chain and Gnosis Pay told Decrypt.

Per the announcement, Gnosis Pay will only have a physical card and a web app. The company plans to release a mobile app “soon,” which costs €30 to sign up.

The blockchain firm further said that the services let users spend EURe, a stablecoin pegged to the Euro, on the Gnosis Card. Gnosis Pay is working on integrating MakerDAO’s decentralized stablecoin, DAI, for future payment options.

“Currently if you’re out of EURe, it’ll decline the payment,” Ernst added. “A feature we will add in the future is that if you’re out of EURe but have USDC, for instance, it will ask whether you want to swap [your tokens].”

Furthermore, Ernst noted that the Gnosis team is having talks with wallets interested in their infrastructure.

“We are currently signing letters of intent with multiple wallets. It is likely the first ones are going to be Zerion and Bankless—1Inch are also top of the list.”