Who Needs an Off-Ramp? Ether.fi Plans Visa Card for Crypto Degens

The newest product from liquid repurchase startup Ether.fi could finally help “paper-rich” cryptocurrency degenerates turn their blockchain investments into spending money.

Ether.fi Cash will be a mobile wallet and Visa credit card that borrows USDC, the popular USD-pegged stablecoin, in exchange for one’s decentralized finance (DeFi) investments, payable directly via crypto.

“Our mission is to create a suite of integrated applications that make DeFi truly usable for normal people,” said Ether.fi founder Mike Silagadze. “Cash is your spending account, the dream is to never have to leave the blockchain.” “Off-ramping” refers to the tedious (and paid) process of converting between cash and crypto.

Today, Ether.fi is known as a service for transferring assets to Ethereum-based repurchase giant EigenLayer, which helps investors secure startup blockchain services in exchange for rewards. EigenLayer attracted nearly $18 billion worth of deposits last year; More than $5.5 billion came from users who initially deposited their money into Ether.fi in exchange for eETH tokens; this was a type of receipt for cryptocurrency-tradable EigenLayer deposits. Markets are like any other asset.

Read more: MetaMask Tests First Blockchain-Powered Payment Card with Mastercard

In addition to the “Stake” program, Ether.fi also has a “Liquid” program where users can deposit their funds into vaults following hand-selected trading strategies.

Ether.fi Cash card holders will be able to borrow against their Stake or Liquid deposits and use the interest earned from these investments to automatically pay their bills. Alternatively, users can convert assets directly to USDC for instant payment.

With Cash, “you get into Ether.fi once and then you never have to go off-ramp again because you can save, invest and spend all your money,” Silagadze said. “You can get paid in crypto and live your life normally without being tied to the TradFi ecosystem.” Ether.fi aims to offer a crypto-centric rewards program similar to those offered by Chase and other legacy card providers. It also aims to differentiate itself from traditional credit cards with a fee structure that will follow the DeFi market instead of the standard 15-30% APR charged from regular credit cards.

Cash isn’t the first foray into a crypto-based card, but Silagadze insists previous attempts to produce similar products amounted to “garbage.”

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“Most of these are Visa debit cards,” he said. “Visa debit cards are pointless because you can only use them for hotels and car rentals. You can’t use them for many things. They’re not practical at all.”

“This is a real credit card,” Silagadze emphasized.

It expects Cash to be available to consumers starting in September, but it’s unlikely to be available in some major markets, including the US, for regulatory reasons.

Using crypto as cash will always have its own complexities, from market considerations to tax implications.

“Originally this was designed for crypto natives,” Silagadze said, “but if someone was considering becoming a true degenerate, looking at something like this might make them feel like, ‘Well, this actually helps me navigate this universe.’”