Ledger dedicates debit card to crypto

The French unicorn, specialist in hardware solutions for securing crypto-currencies, Ledger, has come up with a striking innovation. The company is adapting to the democratisation of crypto uses by unveiling a debit card that links its core business with traditional payment methods. Ledger is thus unveiling the beginnings of an entirely crypto bankless account.

FACTS

• Ledger has just introduced its Crypto Life or "CL" card. Affiliated to the Visa network, it is launched in partnership with Baanx, a London-based FinTech specialising in alternative financial services around crypto-currency.

• The particularity of this card lies in its direct link with Ledger Nano crypto wallets. It thus enables real-world spending, using its crypto-assets and automatically converting the sums in real time, as you spend.

• The CL card is also controllable from the Ledger Live app, which until now has been used to buy, sell and manage its crypto-assets. One feature in particular attracts attention as it concerns a new credit-like offer. It allows users of the card to put cryptos as collateral to spend money without interest for 30 days.

• Ledger ultimately allows users of its new service to deposit their salary into the account attached to the card, before they can choose which crypto-assets they wish to convert their funds into (Bitcoin or Ether in particular).

• The CL card will be available in selected markets from the first quarter of 2022, with the UK, France and Germany the first to be covered. The US is expected to be covered thereafter. However, not all the functionalities of the offer will be open at the same time in all territories, in particular those relating to credit and salary deposits, which will be accessible later in 2022.

ISSUES

• Credit to bypass taxes: The originality of the CL card lies in its "credit" offer. The latter allows card users to avoid paying taxes related to the direct sale of crypto-assets. Ledger and its advances allow crypto assets to be used as collateral, not as a means of direct payment.

• A 100% crypto unbanked account: A management application, an asset storage service, an attached payment method and the possibility of direct debit, Ledger's new offering goes beyond the mere means of payment to ultimately resemble an alternative to a bank account.

• A link between the physical and virtual world: Ledger breaks down the barriers between the new world of 100% digital consumption and the physical world. The company is paving the way for a new financial management space that will allow users to manage their NFT purchases as well as their everyday purchases.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Having become an undisputed reference in hardware wallets dedicated to crypto-currencies, Ledger has established itself as a leading Unicorn in the buoyant crypto-currency market. A French FinTech, it is now spreading internationally.

• It announced the launch of a physical card at the end of 2020, when it presented its development projects. It is finally aiming further ahead by offering a complete service for managing one's finances, via crypto.

• The launch of the CL card is also a way for Visa to respond to competition from MasterCard, which in February 2021 presented a card dedicated to the Bahamian virtual currency.