Bleap's Blockchain alternative to card-based accounts

A new Fintech, a new promise. Poland's Bleap is one of them. It promotes the model of a Blockchain account, combined with a payment card enabling purchases to be made in crypto-currencies. A fundraising round has enabled it to ensure the launch of the beta version of its service.

FACTS

• Bleap recently announced that it had completed a round of financing and raised pre-seed funding totalling $2.3 million.

• These funds will now enable the company to launch its services in the beta phase with selected European users, prior to a full public roll-out scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.

• Bleap presents itself as a payment application enabling its users to spend Stablecoins in the real world via a Mastercard debit card.

• To motivate usage, Bleap is also counting on a rewards program offering up to 2% cashback on purchases made with the card.

• There are no conversion or exchange fees.

• In practical terms, Bleap will receive requests from MasterCard when its card users want to make a payment. Bleap will then check the user's wallet to deduct the amount and confirm the transaction. Bleap takes care of implementing the transaction on the Blockchain, and the conversion.

• What's more, this payment service is attached to a multi-currency account enabling its users to transfer funds worldwide instantly and always free of charge.

• Bleap is based in the UK and registered as a VASP (virtual asset provider) in Poland. It plans to cover the European market as well as Latin America.

CHALLENGES

• Renewing financial services: Bleap's founders are two ex-employees of Revolut, which presents blockchain technology as the future of finance.

• Surfing on Stablecoins: To justify the relevance of their offering, Bleap's founders also highlight the dynamism of the Stablecoin market. They point to figures published by BitwiseAsset Management, a San Francisco-based financial company specializing in crypto-currency-related investment products. Its analysts recently estimated that the value of stablecoins in circulation was close to $200 billion.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Far from remaining a simple alternative market, crypto-currencies have finally been democratized across the globe. Now, more than ever, they are making headlines as the Bitcoin benchmark breaks the 100,000 barrier for the first time.

• This record was reached in the run-up to Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the United States. Trump has announced his intention to appoint Paul Atkins, an advocate of crypto-currencies, to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• This new record is worrying central banks around the world, who fear more than ever the development of a parallel money circuit. In response to this threat, they are also working on the deployment of their digital currencies, like the ECB, which recently presented the progress of the digital Euro.