We've recently seen several financial tools hit the market that are blending the world
of cryptocurrencies and real-life banking which sounds cool but are these products actually
usable and useful for your average consumer in 2022.
Today let's find out.
Alright, let's jump right into it.
What is going on everyone I hope you are all having a fantastic day.
So like I said there are a number of products and companies that are focused on bringing
cryptocurrencies to the mainstream and I've said a number of times before here on my channel
that in order for crypto to be widely accepted outside of just being some volatile form of
investment, we will have to see practical use cases that allow us to use and spend our
cryptocurrencies just like we do with U.S. dollars.
Now there are really two avenues through which that can happen.
Obviously, merchants can start to accept cryptos and we have seen that slowly start to happen
with some modern companies accepting Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies as a form
of payment but what is much more likely to accelerate this widespread adoption is the
other side of the equation which would be the card providers creating unique products
that allow you to instantly convert your cryptos to U.S. dollars and spend it that way.
Some of these truly convert your cryptocurrencies to U.S. dollars while others will give you
cashback and allow you to redeem it for cryptocurrencies, but probably the most popular of these products
right now would be the crypto.com visa rewards card.
Now I have made a full view on this product so if you do want a really in-depth look at
how this works then definitely check out that video but today I want to specifically answer
the question of whether or not this product and others like it are actually usable in
2022.
I do want to say a huge thank you to crypto.com for sponsoring today's video however they
had zero input on this video, they don't get to see it before it goes live, and as always
this will be the fully open and honest video that you've all come to expect.
Alright so like I said the use case where merchants start to accept certain cryptos
as a form of currency is not likely to accelerate anytime soon.
Unfortunately, many major cryptocurrencies are still far too volatile and the transaction
times are just way too slow in order for them to be widely used.
For example, Bitcoin transactions require six confirmations within the blockchain before
they can be processed meaning this usually takes over an hour which obviously is not
realistic.
When you buy something at the store you need to be able to swipe your card have that transaction
approved and leave with whatever you purchased within a matter of seconds.
Some other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, for example, have tried to improve upon these
transaction times but with Ethereum specifically, there are ridiculously high gas fees that
once again make it very unlikely for this to be widely adopted.
So again that brings us back to the products that allow you to convert your cryptos into
usable U.S. dollars or in the case of some products, redeem rewards in the form of cryptocurrencies.
Now in the case of the crypto.com visa card, it actually allows you to do both of those
things which is probably why it has become the most popular product when it comes to
blending the world of cryptocurrencies and everyday banking.
Again if you want a full breakdown of how this product works then I will link to my
full review in the description below but long story short you are essentially going to steak
a certain amount of money in CRO and the amounts vary depending on which teir of this card
you were looking to get.
And staking is just a fancy way of saying making an investment so if you stake $400
for example to get the Ruby steel card then should you ever decide to get rid of this
card, you will get that money back.
Now it's important to note that obviously, cryptocurrencies fluctuate in price pretty
drastically so in some cases you might get more than your original stake back you might
get less than your original stake but nonetheless, this is not like an annual fee on a credit
card where you pay it and that money is gone.
It's merely a way of staking funds on the blockchain and in exchange, you get various
rewards with the crypto.com visa card.
We'll talk about some of those in the second but how does this actually work when it comes
to spending because who cares about earning cool rewards and all of that if again this
product isn't actually useful in our daily lives.
Well, I'll tell you now that it isn't quite as simple as just mindlessly swiping your
card but it is a fairly simple process that can be done right from your smartphone.
So under the card tab within the crypto.com app, you'll see a few different options once
you have your card set up.
The exchange and send options are separate features that allow you to either exchange
funds from one Fiat currency to another so the US dollar to euros for example in the
send feature obviously allows you to send a local currency to a friend's wallet.
But the way you actually spend money on your card is by clicking the top up button on the
left hand side and top up is basically their phrasing for pre-loading your visa card.
So when you top up it's basically going to convert crypto into U.S. dollars and from
there you just swipe your card anywhere visa is accepted which is pretty much everywhere
and it works exactly like any other debit or credit card product.
So based on those fairly simple steps, I think the obvious answer is yes crypto rewards cards
are usable in our daily lives but there's a second very important question that we have
to answer and that is are they actually useful end worth the hassle of having to go into
your phone and convert your cryptocurrencies tp usable fiat currency.
Obviously, that's a matter of opinion but if we hop back to the rewards page, with the
Ruby steel option which is the lowest staking version of this card, you only have to stake
$400 and with that, you're going to get 2% back on all of your purchases and a free Spotify
membership each month which is an equivalent of $14.00 per month which is pretty cool.
So that alone in my opinion is worth it because again the $400 that you're staking will be
given back to you if you ever decide to get rid of this card so you can essentially think
of that as a security deposit and 2% back puts it right up there with some of the best
standard credit cards on the market and it gives you 100% back on a service that a lot
of us are probably already paying for anyways.
But it's when you get into some of the higher tier options with this card that it really
starts to make sense and becomes not only usable but actually one of the best rewards
card options across the board.
The royal indigo and jade green cards have a $4000 staking requirement which is definitely
getting up there and might not be realistic for everyone but that's going to give you
3% back on everything plus 100% back on Spotify and Netflix plus you get airport lounge access
through lounge key which gives you access to over 1000 airport lounges which is pretty
sweet.
So again looking at the staking requirement as essentially a security deposit that you'll
get back, 3% back is pretty much unmatched not to mention the free Spotify and Netflix.
Now, something that is really important to mention here is that all of your cash back
rewards are given to you in the form of CRO but this can obviously be sold pretty easily
and converted to a different cryptocurrency of your choice or converted to U.S. dollars
if you want to do that as well.
They do have the frosted rose gold and icy white as well as the Obsidian card which has
a $400,000 staking requirements which isn't exactly realistic for your average conumer
but you can see here that the benefits that these two options come with are absolutely
insane and no credit card even comes close to these right now so if you've got a crazy
amount of money and you can afford to stake 400 grand in CRO then, by all means, go for
it because 8% back sounds pretty good to me.
The last thing I want to mention is that when you stake your currency in order to get these
cards, you do have to hold that for a period of six months which does make sense because
they don't want someone's staking $400,000, getting their card and then immediately cashing
out and continuing to reap all of these insane benefits.
So again just something to keep in mind but what's the final verdict, is this product
and others like it actually useful and where could this be headed in the future.
Obviously, something like the crypto.com visa rewards card is a bit of a workaround since
it is converting your cryptocurrencies to U.S. dollars and therefore is not directly
allowing you to spend your cryptocurrencies but I do like the fact that they have built
out an infrastructure that as more merchants continue to accept cryptos as a form of payment,
it would be fairly easy for crypto.com to bypass the converting step and directly spend
your cryptocurrencies where you're able to do so.
And to that, I'd say great job because again as these sort of things become more widely
adopted and normalized in our society, it's going to be incredibly good for the crypto
world across the board and we'll finally be able to push the widespread use cases that
many of us have been talking about for years.
So if you can only afford to stake enough for the midnight blue which is $0.00 or Ruby
steel cards, then this probably isn't the best option but if you're able to get up to
the royal indigo and jade greet cards which again are $4000 staking requirement then I'd
say this is definitely worth it but as always I'd love to know what you think of this down
in the comment section and which of these five card options you are considering getting.
I'd also love to know what you think of this debate down in the comment section and where
you feel this type of product is headed in the future as we continue to blur the line
between traditional banking and the crypto world.
Be sure to check it out the crypto fees rewards card and crypto.com's other products using
the link down in the description below and of course, hit the like button and subscribe
to the channel if you did get value out of this content.
Thank you so much for your time I really do appreciate it take it easy and I'll see you
in the next one!