Tangem is expanding its crypto payments offering with a physical Visa card, but the Swiss wallet provider says the places where users most want crypto cards do not always have the infrastructure or regulatory conditions needed to issue them.
According to Cointelegraph, more than 40% of Tangem Pay transactions currently come from Latin America and more than 30% from the United States. However, physical card availability remains limited in some markets, highlighting the gap between demand for crypto-linked payments and access to regulated card networks.
Physical card launches with 5,000-card limit
Tangem announced its first physical Tangem Pay Visa card on Wednesday. The card is designed for in-store and online purchases, as well as ATM withdrawals, with the initial release capped at 5,000 cards.
Users will be able to fund the card directly from Tangem’s self-custodial wallet. They can also transfer funds back to the wallet if the card is suspended or closed. A self-custodial wallet allows users to hold and control their assets themselves rather than placing them with a third-party custodian.
Andrey Ilinskiy, head of Tangem Pay, said the relevant issue is not only where consumers want crypto cards. Demand, regulation, banking infrastructure and card-issuing requirements must also align before a card can be offered in a market.
Tangem is adding cashback paid in Circle’s USDC stablecoin, a digital token designed to maintain a value linked to the US dollar. Basic users will receive 1% cashback on eligible purchases, while Plus users will receive 2%.
Availability depends on more than crypto rules
Tangem says its cards can be delivered in nearly 200 countries, while physical card delivery is currently unavailable in about 20 countries. The company specifically lists China, Russia, North Korea and Palestine among the excluded markets.
The company said restrictions on its card do not necessarily reflect whether cryptocurrency itself is permitted in a country. Know Your Customer, or KYC, checks, sanctions, local banking regulations and compliance requirements for card issuers can each affect availability.
That distinction matters because a crypto wallet and a regulated payment card operate under different frameworks. Users may be able to hold digital assets in a self-custodial wallet, while spending those assets through a Visa-linked product can require additional relationships with banks, payment providers and regulators.
Tangem plans to present the first physical Tangem Pay cards at Token2049 in Singapore. The company’s comments suggest that expansion will depend not only on consumer interest, but also on whether local payment systems can support the product.
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