Swiss crypto hardware wallet provider Tangem has revealed that more than 40% of its Tangem Pay transactions originate from Latin America, while over 30% come from the United States. This geographic distribution highlights a surging appetite for crypto-linked payment solutions in regions grappling with currency volatility and evolving digital asset landscapes, even as physical card availability remains restricted in various markets across the globe.
The announcement coincides with Tangem’s official rollout of its first physical Visa card, designed for seamless in-store purchases, online shopping, and ATM withdrawals. Initially, the release of the physical card is capped at a limited batch of 5,000 units. The company plans to showcase these inaugural cards at the upcoming Token2049 conference in Singapore, marking a significant milestone in bridging the gap between decentralized digital assets and traditional financial rails.
According to Tangem, the newly introduced payment card allows users to fund their spending directly from their self-custodial wallets. Furthermore, in the event that a card needs to be suspended or closed, users retain full control of their funds, enabling them to move their assets effortlessly back into the security of their self-custodial wallet environment. This mechanism attempts to address a long-standing hurdle in the crypto payments sector: merging the autonomy of decentralized finance with the universal acceptance of legacy payment networks.
“Self-custody removes one major boundary: there is no custodian standing between the user and their assets,” Tangem explained regarding the architecture of the new product. “But when those assets enter a regulated payment network, another set of boundaries appears.”
These boundaries are not merely conceptual; they are shaped by a complex matrix of international laws, compliance standards, and infrastructure limitations. Andrey Ilinskiy, head of Tangem Pay, elaborated on the intricate challenges of global card deployment in an interview, pointing out that bridging the crypto and fiat worlds requires a delicate alignment of multiple macroeconomic and regulatory factors.
“It is not simply a question of where people want crypto cards,” Ilinskiy told Cointelegraph, adding, “It is where demand, regulation, banking infrastructure and card-issuing requirements happen to line up — and today, those maps do not always overlap.”
Tangem Delivers the Cards in Nearly 200 Countries, Excluding Only 20
While the global reach of the new Visa card is expansive, covering nearly 200 countries, logistical and regulatory roadblocks prevent the company from distributing physical Tangem Pay cards to approximately 20 nations worldwide. Among the restricted territories are China, Russia, North Korea, and Palestine.
The company clarified that these delivery and availability restrictions do not necessarily mirror the domestic regulatory rules governing cryptocurrency itself within those jurisdictions. Instead, a combination of stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, international sanctions, local banking directives, and rigorous card-issuing compliance standards dictates precisely where a crypto-linked payment card can legally and operationally be issued and used.
In many cases, the economic conditions that foster strong grassroots demand for alternative financial rails—such as inflation, banking restrictions, or limited access to traditional financial services—can simultaneously create an environment where regulated card issuance becomes exceptionally difficult to execute.
“The same conditions that can create demand for crypto as an alternative financial rail can make regulated card issuance more difficult,” Tangem noted, emphasizing the paradox that crypto payment providers frequently navigate as they scale operations across borders.
To incentivize early adopters and encourage continuous engagement within its ecosystem, Tangem is also introducing a cashback rewards program tied to Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin. Under this structure, eligible purchases will yield cashback rates of 1% for Basic users and 2% for Plus users, distributed directly in the widely utilized dollar-pegged stablecoin. This move aligns with broader industry trends highlighting the growing utility and acceptance of stablecoins in everyday financial transactions, a sentiment echoed by recent market research and surveys from major traditional finance players like Visa regarding stablecoin adoption and bank-like protections.
As Tangem prepares to unveil the physical cards at Token2049 in Singapore, the company continues to monitor the shifting global regulatory landscape to optimize its distribution pathways and expand access to users who rely on digital assets for their daily economic activities.
