Uphold launches multi-asset debit card

The Uphold platform has announced the launch of a new payment card, allowing users to pay with cryptocurrencies, physical goods and fiat currencies.

XRP and BTC supported by this debit card

Uphold's new multi-asset debit card allows U.S.-based participants to spend assets held on their Uphold accounts in any location compatible with the Mastercard, a Uphold representative told Cointelegraph during an interview.

Everywhere in the world where the Mastercard is accepted, they will be able to use this debit card.

Customers based in the United States can now register on a waiting list for the card, which boasts 24-hour compatibility. digital assets, 27 fiat and four metals, including Bitcoin (BTC), the Basic Attention Token (BAT), the XRP of Ripple, gold and the US dollar.

Uphold is a digital goods platform on which users can buy, sell, spend and hold digital goods, currency and goods.

Different assets on one card

Uphold's multi-asset debit card is the first of its kind that allows users to convert various goods, crypto-assets and fiat currencies into cash at the point of sale.

If you go to the app the card is connected to, you can instantly spend BAT, gold, palladium, USD money – anything, anywhere, n anytime – in real time, said the Uphold representative. This allows you to spend any connected good.

Uphold also claims that there are no exchange fees in the process.

We really try to reflect and complement what our portfolio already offers to users, that is to say access at all times to everything in our portfolio. We are not stopped by borders or exchange fees.

Goods other than cryptos

While the use of digital goods in such a system seems logical, one wonders how they could go about holding and spending gold, a non-digital good.

“We have a partner where our users who have gold can actually order physical gold, delivered to their home,” said the representative. She noted that each asset in a user's Uphold account has its own wallet, and that users decide which asset they want to spend on a particular purchase.

It's not like you have to show up and have the physical bag of gold, she added. It just gives the user the freedom to decide which asset they want to spend, compared to the limits of current cards.

This type of simplicity and low barrier to entry is a significant step forward in making crypto more functional and more versatile.

In December 2019, the company also announced that it is collaborating with Salt to enable the public to access loans secured by crypto.

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