The partnership between Mastercard and Binance, currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, aims to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and everyday purchases, and is part of Binance’s efforts towards furthering global cryptocurrency adoption in a tangible manner.

Currently in beta phase, the ‘Binance Card’ is currently available in Argentina and can only be used to spend the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and BNB, but plans to expand to new markets and cryptocurrencies soon.

Users are said to expect seamless transactions in which their cryptocurrencies are converted to fiat currency in real-time at the point of purchase, as well as earn up to 8% in crypto cashback on eligible purchases and enjoy zero fees on ATM withdrawals.

Walter Pimenta, executive vice president, products and innovation, Mastercard Latin America and the Caribbean, said: “Our work with digital currencies builds on our strong foundation to enable choice and peace of mind when people shop and pay.

“Together with our partners, Mastercard has been leading the payments industry in enabling entry to this exciting new world, helping bring millions of additional users into crypto and other digital assets in a safe and trusted manner”

Maximiliano Hinz, general director of Binance in Latin America, added: “Payments is one of the first and most obvious use cases for crypto, yet adoption has a lot of room to grow. By using the Binance Card, merchants continue to receive fiat and the users pay in cryptocurrency they choose.

“We believe the Binance Card is a significant step in encouraging wider crypto use and global adoption and now it is available for users from Argentina”

Although there are plans to expand the product to more countries, the card is unlikely to be made available in the UK in the near future as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has marked Binance as a security risk following regulatory issues last year. Any possibility of the Binance Card coming to the UK would require approval from the FCA.