Elrond Secures Swipe Integration Bringing ERD to 500,000 New Users

High throughput blockchain Elrond has fast-tracked its goal of bringing crypto to a global audience after integrating with Swipe. It means that ERD can be purchased with a Visa debit card or converted into local currency by Swipe’s half a million users. The news arrives just as Elrond is preparing to launch its mainnet and follows a bumper month for ERD, which is up 160%.

The Swipe deal means that ERD can be purchased using Visa card within the Swipe app. It also makes ERD spendable using the Swipe wallet and its connected Visa card at more than 50 million merchants around the world.

ERD Slides Into Swipe Wallet

As the native asset of the Elrond blockchain ecosystem, ERD performs a number of functions including staking and paying transaction fees. It’s now gained an additional use case following the Swipe integration: to serve as money.  “We are thrilled to work with the Swipe team on an integration which brings us closer to what will be a defining moment for the new internet economy,” said Elrond CEO Beniamin Mincu, who described the integration as adding “convenience, ease of use, and utility” for ERD holders.

Like Elrond, Swipe has close ties with Binance, which recently acquired the multi-asset digital wallet and Visa card platform. The Binance family of crypto companies includes Elrond, which launched on the exchange in an IEO in 2019, and the project remains a favorite with CEO Changpeng Zhao. Swipe has a presence in 31 countries, where ERD will immediately become available, and will soon become accessible within the Asian and North American markets according to the press release.

Binance Extends Its Crypto-Fiat Capabilities

Binance has been on a mission to connect the world to cryptocurrency through improving the fiat on and offramps to the blockchain ecosystem. It’s made significant progress in realizing this goal after launching a series of regional exchanges with fiat gateways, and by integrating fiat-crypto swaps into its main platform with the aid of payment partner Simplex. Its acquisition of Swipe feeds into this mission, providing a way to connect assets such as BNB and BUSD to key financial infrastructure including ATMs and in-store PoS terminals. Binance’s values align with those of Swipe, which has vowed to “make crypto finance mainstream by connecting existing payment networks to cryptocurrencies.”

Crypto card services of the sort offered by Swipe, Revolut, Crypto.com, and Wirex have become extremely popular, providing users the ability to hold crypto but cash out quickly when required. With Binance now overseeing its development and leveraging its global brand, Swipe is positioned to bring crypto-assets to millions of new users, while integrating Binance-incubated projects like ERD.