As the utility of stablecoins becomes an industry-wide priority, EMCD now joins the ranks of leading companies offering seamless crypto payments to everyday users through global payment cards. However, EMCD’s partnership with KazeFi to launch a global USDT payment card represents an important step towards eliminating the friction between digital assets and the analog economy.
This is a practical bridge built not for traders, but for everyday crypto holders who want to use stablecoins without the bureaucratic hurdles of periodic off-ramps.
The cryptocurrency community has been championing the vision of a decentralized future for years, but the reality for most has been the tedious process of moving assets from wallet to exchange, selling them for fiat currency, waiting for a bank transfer, and finally buying a coffee.
This is where products like the EMCD Payment Card come in, leveraging Tether’s USDT, the most liquid stablecoin, to turn the act of spending into a near-instantaneous transaction.
Rising stablecoin velocity
The timing of this release is no coincidence. Directly leverage the surge in stablecoin trading volumes. As a16z’s recent State of Crypto report highlighted, stablecoins processed over $46 trillion in transaction volume last year, a figure that literally doubled from the previous year. This is not just trading volume. This is an infrastructure for global value transfer that is evolving at breakneck speed and represents an increasing level of comfort for businesses and users with the digital dollar.
EMCD is a company rooted in the industrial credibility of Bitcoin mining and is now focused on achieving this economic speed. The company’s CEO, Michael Jellis, summed up the challenge perfectly: “Today, millions of people hold cryptocurrencies, but only a fraction of them actually use them in their daily lives.” This card is an antidote to the “HODL mentality” that hinders simple practicality.
EMCD actively lowers the barrier to entry by offering free issuance and zero monthly maintenance fees. Seamless integration with Apple Pay and Google Pay is not a luxury. This is required to comply with the latest smooth payments standards.
From miner to spender
What makes the EMCD movement more compelling than that of pure cryptocurrency exchanges issuing cards is its origin story. EMCD started as a major Bitcoin mining pool. This card isn’t just a new product line, it’s the final piece of an integrated ecosystem.
Imagine a miner receiving a daily BTC payment. You can now instantly exchange your portion to USDT within your EMCD wallet, load it directly onto your payment card, and use it worldwide without leaving the platform. This effectively shortens the multi-step crypto-to-fiat process and provides a compelling argument for users to consolidate their mining, savings, and spending activities under one roof. This creates a powerful flywheel effect. This means that the more a user mines or holds, the more likely they are to use their card, reinforcing the platform’s usefulness.
FIAT RAIL COMPETITION AND FUTURE
Of course, it’s not just EMCD. The payment card space is a competitive one, with major players such as Crypto.com, Coinbase, and proprietary platforms like BitPay competing for users’ wallets. However, this market is large enough that there will be multiple winners, especially as mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency payments continues to increase. Research shows that by 2026, nearly one in five crypto holders will use their assets for payments, promoting just this type of simple and reliable solution.
The EMCD payment card is an organic step towards mass adoption. The global financial infrastructure, the vast network built by Visa and Mastercard, allows cryptocurrencies to become a stepping stone to achieving ubiquity. It’s not about replacing payment rails overnight. It’s about connecting your best digital assets to your existing plumbing.
This announcement marks a shift in focus from speculative profits to concrete practicality. For BeInCrypto readers, this card is a reminder that the most exciting developments in the crypto space today are often not in the next 100x token, but in the tedious, steady work of building a functional and compliant bridge to the real world.
