Institutions are going crazy issuing cards! Following Binance Card, the well-known brokerage platform "eToro" has launched a cryptocurrency financial card in the UK.

Recently, both the traditional asset investment platform eToro and the cryptocurrency-focused exchange Binance, which has been expanding in the cryptocurrency field, coincidentally announced the launch of financial debit cards in July. Following a similar path as Binance, eToro also acquired a fintech startup payment platform and subsequently introduced its own financial debit card.

UK Expansion: eToro Acquires Marq Millions Ltd

The popular stock investment platform eToro recently announced the launch of a debit card after strategically acquiring the UK-based electronic money service provider Marq Millions Ltd. Marq will become a subsidiary of eToro and the issuer of the debit card, while retaining its original management team.

According to Techcrunch, the debit card will initially be available to eToro's 14 million registered members, starting with the UK and later expanding to European members, with plans for a global rollout to non-eToro users. Yoni Assia, co-founder and CEO of eToro, stated:

"As we continue to expand the wide range of services we offer to our users, introducing a debit card is a natural strategic move. The card will provide instant access to funds, a request our users have been making for a long time. We look forward to seeing significant usage and improving the user experience."

Binance's Card Launch Encounters Hurdles

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance attempted to launch a financial debit card in March this year, announcing the release of the "Binance Card" issued by Visa on March 26th on their website here. However, there were subsequent changes in their collaboration with Visa. The original announcement was altered, the Visa branding on the card was removed, and any mention of Visa was no longer present.

In June, Binance made another move by acquiring a stake in the cryptocurrency payment startup Swipe.io. This acquisition not only drove up the price of Swipe.io's token SXP but also paved the way for the cryptocurrency exchange giant to advance its physical payment card plans.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) shared the beta test results of the Binance Card on Twitter, highlighting the ability to make payments with BNB tokens from a Binance account. He claimed, "Finally moving from 99% to 100% crypto life."

Robinhood's Failed UK Expansion

Prior to eToro's debit card launch in the UK, its main competitor Robinhood had plans to expand into the UK market. With over 250,000 registered candidates in the UK, Robinhood faced setbacks after an incident involving a US user in June.

Reported in June, a 20-year-old Robinhood user in the US mistakenly interpreted a floating profit and loss as -$730,165 due to lack of familiarity with options trading, leading to a tragic outcome.

Following this incident, Robinhood faced scrutiny in the UK, resulting in an indefinite delay of their launch in the country. Their statement mentioned:

"We will be closing the waitlist, and shutting down our UK website."

In contrast, eToro has taken a significant lead in the UK landscape with over 256,000 new registered users since its launch in the UK in May last year.