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⌐◪-◪ → MetaMask just launched a debit card in partnership with Mastercard and Baanx Group, allowing users to spend crypto directly from their self-custody wallet.

From a distribution standpoint, this is a big deal. Mastercard has over 1.2B debit card users and is accepted by over 110M merchants globally.

These are exactly the kinds of partnerships that blur the lines between TradFi and DeFi while maintaining one of crypto’s core components: self-custody.

The product is launching in the EU and UK first, and will initially support most popular cryptocurrencies. You can join the waitlist here.

This is a win for the industry, addressing one of the public's biggest objections: “but how do you spend your magic internet money?” Now we can respond with, “just like this.” → swipes card.

💬 EU/UK readers, do you plan on getting this card?

⌐◪-◪ → Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, just told developers to “start your engines” because tap to pay using USDC on iPhone is coming soon.

This is made possible by iOS 18.1, which lets third-party developers access the iPhone’s NFC chip, enabling contactless payments outside of Apple Pay and Wallet for the first time. Circle has no official relationship with Apple.

This move is very un-Apple, opening up their walled garden thanks to a settlement in the EU that challenged Apple’s previous NFC limitations.

The functionality will launch first in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, with more regions to follow.

Get ready for a rush of new NFT-based use cases on iPhone, one of the more bullish updates for web3 UX we’ve seen in a while.

💬 What NFC-based use cases do you want on iPhone?

⌐◪-◪ → Telegram is making moves on the crypto front, announcing a new feature that lets creators earn TON, the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network.

Users can now send reactions in Stars, an off-chain in-app currency, which can later be converted into TON.

This is a big pro-crypto move for Telegram, one of the world’s largest messaging apps with over 1B users—about 35% of WhatsApp’s size.

For context, TON is the 8th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $16.75B, bigger than Dogecoin, Cardano, Tron, and Bitcoin Cash.

If you haven’t explored Telegram’s crypto ecosystem or mini-apps, I highly recommend starting with Fragment, an NFT marketplace for Telegram usernames.

💬 Now go join our Telegram and give me stars! (jk, just join plz).