Mastercard, Binance to end crypto card partnership – Reuters

[1/3]Smartphone with displayed Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Mastercard (MA.N) and crypto exchange Binance will end their four crypto card programmes in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Bahrain as of Sept. 22, a spokesperson for Mastercard said via email on Thursday.
The Binance cards allow users to make payments in traditional currencies, funded by their cryptocurrency holdings on the exchange.
Mastercard's website also lists partnerships with crypto exchanges including Gemini. The decision will not impact any of Mastercard's other crypto card programmes, the spokesperson said.
Binance is facing legal and regulatory challenges. U.S. regulators sued the crypto exchange and its CEO Changpeng Zhao in June for allegedly operating a "web of deception." Binance has said it would defend itself "vigorously."
Mastercard's head of crypto and blockchain, Raj Dhamodharan, told Reuters in April that the company was seeking more partnerships with crypto firms. He declined to comment on Binance specifically, but said any card programme "goes through full due diligence" and is continuously monitored.
A Mastercard spokesperson declined to comment on why the Binance programme was ending or who made the decision.
Binance did not immediately respond to a comment request sent via email. The exchange's customer support account on X, formerly known as Twitter, said earlier on Thursday that the Binance Card "will no longer be available to users in Latin America and the Middle East."
Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft, additional reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Susan Fenton
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Thomson Reuters
Reports on the intersection of finance and technology, including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, virtual worlds and the money driving "Web3".
Thomson Reuters
Tom covers crypto companies, regulation and markets from London, focusing through 2022 on the Binance crypto exchange. He has worked at Reuters since 2014, with a previous posting to Tokyo where he uncovered abuses in Japan’s immigration system and won a joint Overseas Press Club award for reporting on the tobacco giant Philip Morris.
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