10,000
Spend cards issued
Case study
Spend: Launching a crypto-backed card from scratch
Spend is a debit card for spending crypto like regular money. We went from concept to launch in the EU in about a year: through prototyping, development and compliance to partner card issuing.
OPPORTUNITY
There is demand for spending crypto
According to our surveys, 27% of users receive income in crypto and 24% want to use it to pay for goods and services.
Users want to spend crypto, but avoid off-ramping to regular cards as banks often block crypto-related transfers.
Data from quantitative research Q4 2023, Mercuryo users
Want to pay for goods and services
24%
Receive their paycheck in crypto
27%
Regularly receive crypto transfers
31%
Concept
Aiming for the perfect B2B2C use case with a concept
As with our other products, we expected to generate a substantial part of revenue from our partners.
We started with a concept to measure demand and interest among our merchant partner base.
With the concept we aimed to sell a vision. How the product could look before there were any restrictions
Spend SDK
Defining MVP
We took our existing web platform as the MVP base, but still had to build a whole new product. Once live, it was good for partner integration via SDK.
MVP = Off-Ramp & Crypto nodes + Legal licenses + Debit card, integrated seamlessly
Development
Figuring out the details
Quite seasoned in crypto, we lacked experience in banking products. To achieve launch, we had to cut scope, adjust and iterate on the go.
Minding the scope, we cut the multiple cards feature to launch in a reasonable timeframe
Security. The card had to be accessible only through some form of 2FA, as required by the card provider. Since we were working on the web, I opted for passkey authentication with a passcode fallback.
Top Up via Wallet Connect. Fast, simple, compatible with popular wallets
Transaction history. With limited purchase data from acquirers, we’ve moved to a simple and reliable approach.
Closing the card is not the end of the journey. There’s still a need to reach support or reference the history.
Card actions. Kept to the essentials: details, limits, PIN, lock and reissue — the must-have set we couldn’t go without.
And putting everything together, the MVP looks like this:
Branding
Card Design
While development was underway, I explored card design concepts with the Brand team.
The black card was the team’s favorite. Combined with Mercuryo’s star branding, it became the Mercuryo Spend Card.
We saw an opportunity to stand out with a pastel approach, so we also prepared a light version of the card design.
Card face designs sent to Mastercard. Meanwhile, we were preparing a couple of nice things in the UI
Execution
Launching the card product
We launched the card in our own ecosystem in September 2024. It took about a year from the first concept to the final launch.
Ledger, our first major co-branded partner, launched in April 2025. Beyond integration and marketing, we had to figure out partner card issuance with Mastercard and compliance.
Nova Wallet, our next co-branded card partner, launched a month later, as the two projects were running in parallel.
Metrics
Milestone Results
By the end of 2025, across Mercuryo users and partners
€3.5m
Transaction volume processed
We consider this a success:
Launched in the highly regulated EU market
Integrated two co-branded card partners
Got real feedback: both issues and praise
Conclusion
What’s next?
First of all: more partners, more cards, more transactions.
Second: finally moving from digital-only cards to physical cards.
From idea to launch, almost everything changed. What got it launched was persistence and staying flexible: letting go of old decisions, accepting reality, and making the most of what we had.