2024 has ushered in more mainstream attention with the approval of the Bitcoin ETFs, the team at SafePal noted in a recent update.
Regardless of market movements, the team at SafePal claims that it continues to focus on building products, developing features, and “improving their offerings to better meet the needs of our users.”
Accessibility has been a constant hurdle “for crypto usage, and SafePal has consistently been looking to improve this as a gateway for crypto adoption.”
As part of these efforts, SafePal is announcing a strategic investment in Swiss bank Fiat24, and the launch of an in-app banking gateway and linked virtual crypto Visa card.
This new service offering will aim to “pave the way to onboard more users into Web3 and accelerate the bridging of crypto to real-world utilities.”
In accordance with banking laws by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), registration data for the service offering “are stored separately and only accessible by relevant departments of Fiat24.”
The cash accounts are also “operated separately by Fiat24, maintaining the decentralization and anonymity offered in the SafePal non-custodial wallet suite.”
The banking gateway and Visa card will “be rolled out first to selected regions in Europe before extending to the entire continent, and other countries (excluding the USA and US-sanctioned nations).”
SafePal and Fiat24 also plan to “roll out Mastercard services in Q3 this year as part of a global expansion, meaning users around the world will also be able to experience crypto-friendly living.”
Product Highlights for SafePal Banking Gateway and Visa Card:
- No annual fees: Eligible users can open individually owned and compliant Swiss bank accounts under their name for free with no account creation or annual management fees
- Crypto-friendly: Users will be able to utilize cryptocurrency for daily expenses, and make seamless transfers with their other bank accounts compliantly — eliminating the excessive scrutiny and restrictions of traditional bank accounts while improving accessibility to on and off-ramps
- Spend crypto with ease: The virtual Visa cards support 3rd payment party platforms like Paypal, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay for smooth and seamless payments
- On-chain and transparent: After creating the bank accounts in the SafePal mobile wallet, the credentials are minted as an NFT on Arbitrum (an Ethereum Layer 2 solution), and all related transactions will be broadcast on-chain, providing a transparent, immutable ledger for users.
- Additional $SFP utilities: $SFP is knitted into the core product design, with staking for the decentralized utility token providing privileges and benefits
- Reliability and stability: USDC is the default deposit cryptocurrency to provide stability and safeguard card owners from market volatility. Users can swap their crypto with SafePal across 40+ blockchains into USDC on Arbitrum to be deposited into their bank accounts in the mobile wallet, to be stored as $USD, $EUR, and $CHF for various transactions and expenses.
SafePal banking gateway account holders “can earn points by performing various tasks to unlock additional benefits and privileges, like referral commissions and better top-up fee rates.”
The account tiers and corresponding privileges “will automatically be activated once the point criteria is met.”
Founded in 2018, SafePal is a comprehensive crypto wallet suite “providing hardware wallet, mobile app, and browser extension wallet solutions.”
As a non-custodial wallet suite, SafePal aims to “allow users to own their crypto adventure, by empowering them to access opportunities securely in the decentralized world.”
The SafePal platform is backed “by Binance Labs, Animoca Brands, and SuperScrypt; serving over 10 million users globally and supporting 15 languages, 100+ blockchains with their fungible and non-fungible tokens.”