Binance and Mastercard launch prepaid card in inflation-battered Argentina

On August 4th, Binance announced a partnership with Mastercard (MA) to launch the “Binance Card” in Argentina in economic crisis.

According to the announcement, the prepaid card aims to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and daily purchases. The company added that Argentina is the first Latin American country (LATAM) to get the product.

The Binance Card is still in beta, but it is the company's latest effort to promote the adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital payments.

Cryptographic card for global payments

The card, issued by Credencial Payments, will allow new Binance users and those already present in the country, in possession of a valid national identity document, to make purchases and pay bills with cryptocurrencies. Over 90 million physical and online Mastercard merchants worldwide will accept the card.

The cryptocurrencies stored on the card will be converted into fiat in real time, and then sent to the merchant. Additionally, cardholders can earn up to 8% cryptocurrency cashback on eligible purchases and have no fees for ATM withdrawals. Transactions and payments can be viewed and managed on the Binance website and mobile app.

Mastercard Latin America's Executive Vice President of Products and Innovation Walter Pimenta said "the company's work with digital currencies builds on our strong foundation to enable choice and peace of mind in purchases and payments." .

Maximiliano Hinz, Binance CEO in Latin America, added: "Payments are one of the earliest and most obvious use cases for cryptocurrencies, but adoption still has a lot of room to grow."

The move comes at a time when Argentines are suffering a cost of living crisis due to epic inflation. According to Trading Economics, the country has one of the highest inflation rates in the world, with a whopping 64% in June. It is expected to reach 90% by the end of the year.

Many people have already turned to holding dollar-stabilized currencies, such as Circle's Tether (USDT) and USDC, to protect themselves from the rapid depreciation of the peso. Since the same period last year, the Peso has lost more than a third of its value against the greenback. As a result, the demand for stablecoins on Argentine exchanges has increased.

The Argentine president has just sworn in with the third new economy minister in a month. Sergio Massa has pledged to stop printing money which contributes to fueling uncontrolled inflation.

The cryptocurrency markets consolidate

The cryptocurrency markets have stagnated over the past 24 hours, with a marginal decline in total capitalization to $ 1.100 trillion. About $ 50 billion came out of this space after the weekend and seven-week highs.

Binance's BNB token reacted well to the news, reversing the daily downtrend with a 2,5% gain on the day, pushing the quotation again above $ 300. BNB weathered the cryptocurrency storm a little better than its peers, as it lost “only” 55% from its May 2021 all-time high.