Emurgo, the commercial arm of the $21 billion Cardano blockchain, and digital payments platform Wirex have partnered to launch a physical Visa card that allows users to spend cryptocurrencies, according to an announcement on Monday.

Dubbed Cardano Card, the crypto card was unveiled at the Cardano Summit 2025 in Berlin. The card will be natively integrated into Wirex’s platform, which services more than six million users worldwide, a move that could amplify Cardano’s real-world usage.

The crypto card will significantly boost “Cardano’s visibility in the banking world,” said Phillip Pon, CEO of Emurgo Group. He framed the move as a bridge between “real-world utility and onchain utility” for Cardano.

Wirex co-founder Georgy Sokolov called Cardano Card a “major milestone for Cardano as they expand into the global banking and payments space.”

Still, behind the marketing gloss lies Cardano’s long-running struggle to make the major blockchain matter beyond speculative trading.

Despite its market value, Cardano’s payments and DeFi sectors significantly lag behind those of Ethereum, Solana, and XRP ($2.34), a sore point that continues to vex the blockchain’s creator, Charles Hoskinson.

The move also highlights how credit card companies are increasingly muscling into crypto. Visa has recently inked partnerships with Stripe’s Bridge, and Paxos, while rival Mastercard has partnered with the likes of Ripple, Ondo Finance, Fiserv, and Kraken.

Deployment

The Cardano Card deployment will happen in two phases, according to the announcement.

Users will be able to spend Cardano’s ADA ($0.55) and several other cryptocurrencies using the card, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDC ($1.00). They all earn cashback and rebates using the card.

The first stage will also open up DeFi services, such as loans and yield opportunities, to users, as the card is integrated into the Wirex app.

In the second phase, Emurgo and Wirex plan to expand Cardano Card into a non-custodial crypto card, according to the announcement.

Cardano Card is the latest attempt to enhance ADA’s utility in the payments and DeFi markets. In October, Cardano developers announced a plan to integrate a solution that will enable AI agents to make autonomous blockchain payments using the ADA cryptocurrency.

Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? Please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.