The waiting list to apply for the card is now open.
Serrano, CEO of Ripio, expects the launch to take place in October.
Gravela bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency exchange founded in Argentina, announced the launch of a Visa credit card for users in Argentina and Brazil.
This works through decentralized finance (DeFi) without the need for users to connect directly to protocols. In this way, the product seeks to facilitate access to said financial system to make purchases financed using digital assets as collateral.
The assets that can be used as collateral are bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and stablecoins such as tether (USDT).
One peculiarity it has is that, Unlike conventional credit cards, it does not require fixed monthly payments.Instead, it can be paid with amounts and times defined by each user, since it is done through DeFi loans.
“The user can pay gradually, as they wish, or, if they prefer, they can increase the guarantee, make a partial payment and release more credit. There will be a progress bar that will show in a visible and intuitive way how the management of this line of credit is going,” explained Sebastián Serrano, CEO of Gravel.
DeFi is the financial ecosystem in which financial activities can be carried out in a decentralized manner through cryptocurrency networks. Loans in this system are made through smart contracts peer-to-peer (P2P) without traditional intermediaries such as banks.
The DeFi system allows anyone who has digital assets to use as collateral to apply for a loan. In this way, the requirements and entry barriers that traditional financial institutions have to apply for a loan are eliminated.
Despite this, the use of decentralized protocols is difficult for the average person at the moment. There is still a lack of innovations that facilitate the user experience and use cases in this area. This is what has motivated Gravel to launch its DeFi-linked Visa credit card in an automated manner.
This is what Ripio’s DeFi credit card looks like. Source: Ripio.
Credit card purchases will automatically trigger a DeFi loan
“Our goal is to provide a user experience similar to other mobile applications, where DeFi protocols and programmable money are behind it, but in a simple way,” Serrano said.
To this end, he clarified that, When a user makes a purchase using said credit card, the system will automatically request a loan from DeFi protocols to carry it out.
“There are currently a lot of crypto assets sitting in wallets because users see them as investments for the future. Our system provides flexibility by allowing these assets to be used as collateral in a protocol we are building called Capify. This way, the user can preserve their wealth and at the same time finance the purchase of goods and services.”
Sebastian Serrano, founder and CEO of Ripio.
Sebastián Serrano in the Visa credit card advertisement. Source: Ripio.
The businessman made the announcement during Modular, a congress organized by Gravel in São Paulo with members of the cryptocurrency industry where CriptoNoticias was present. This was the second edition of the event, after its debut last year in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the company’s country of origin.
For now, those interested in applying for the card can sign up for a waiting list. According to Serrano, the launch is scheduled to take place in October 2024.
