NFT-Personalized Debit Cards Make Debut

Mastercard will now let cardholders put their non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on their cryptocurrency debit cards, the company said, bringing avatars like Bored Apes and their use as profile pictures (PFPs) beyond Twitter and Instagram.

Crypto financial app hi cardholders in Europe will be able to personalize their cards with NFTs that they verifiably own, assuming they meet Mastercard’s approval standards. The number of acceptable NFT collections is limited to Azukis, Moonbirds, Goblins, Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks — all of which can be pricy, with the latter two running at least six figures and sometimes above $1 million (although that was more frequent before the crypto winter crash).

The hi debit card allows HI token holders to spend their tokens, as well as fiat currencies and other cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in their accounts anywhere Mastercard is accepted. As usual, the merchant receives fiat. The hi debit Mastercard has features including 1% to 10% crypto back and can be funded with British pounds or euros using a hi personal international bank account number (IBAN).

“As consumer interest in crypto and NFTs continues to grow, we are committed to making them an accessible payments choice for the communities who wish to use them,” said Christian Rau, senior vice president of crypto and FinTech enablement at Mastercard in a statement. “We are proud to be working with hi to continue to drive innovation in the market and enable these customizable cards together with the safety and security you’d expect from Mastercard.”

The NFT personalization requires gold membership in hi, which requires holding 100,000 HI tokens — currently about $5,000 — and is available to members in the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom

“Not only do the NFT cards look amazing, this is a great way for people to show which online community they belong to, but in the real world,” said hi Co-Founder Sean Rach in a statement.

NFTs Coming to iPhone … or Not

Apple’s decision to allow the sale of NFTs on its App Store is raising familiar criticism that the tech giant is effectively acting as a gatekeeper to innovation by taking a 30% cut. The policy has led the European Commission to charge Apple with antitrust law violations over streaming music.

And it’s garnering criticism from other parts of the industry, especially since it applies even to startups facilitating the trades, according to The Information. The pricing rules are also difficult to apply to volatile digital assets.

To quote Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney: “Now Apple is killing all NFT app businesses it can’t tax, crushing another nascent technology that could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service. Apple must be stopped.”

Now Apple is killing all NFT app businesses it can’t tax, crushing another nascent technology that could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service. Apple must be stopped. https://t.co/4KChp6jtFZ

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 23, 2022

Epic sued Apple over this after its Fortnite game was booted from the App Store for allowing such purchases. On Sept. 19, the court allowed the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in the case, TechCrunch reported.

Disney Planning NFT, Metaverse, DeFi push

In a job listing posted Friday (Sept. 23), The Walt Disney Company revealed that it is looking for a senior attorney “to work on transactions involving emerging technologies, including NFTs, blockchain, metaverse and decentralized finance,” or DeFi.

The listing comes after the company tapped veteran Disney executive Mike White in February to coordinate the company’s new metaverse efforts.

Disney is pursuing a major push into the “so-called metaverse,” CEO Bob Chapek wrote at the time in a staff memo, Variety reported. Calling it “the next great storytelling frontier and the perfect place to pursue our strategic pillars of Storytelling Excellence, Innovation, and Audience Focus,” Chapek said that he had “been blown away” by experiments the company had been working on.

The attorney’s role will run across many of the company’s divisions, including Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, suggesting wide use of NFTs is coming.

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