Swiss crypto wallet provider Tangem has revealed that more than 40% of its Tangem Pay transactions originate from Latin America, while over 30% come from the United States, highlighting distinct geographic concentrations of interest even as physical card availability remains restricted in various markets worldwide.
The insights come on the heels of Tangem’s announcement regarding its very first physical Visa card, designed to facilitate seamless in-store purchases, online transactions, and ATM withdrawals. The initial release of the card is strictly limited to an exclusive batch of 5,000 units, marking a significant milestone for the company as it bridges the gap between decentralized digital assets and traditional financial rails.
According to the firm, users will be able to fund the physical Visa card directly from their self-custodial wallets. Furthermore, the architecture of the product ensures that if a card is ever suspended or closed, users retain the ability to move their remaining funds safely back into their self-custodial environment.
Andrey Ilinskiy, the head of Tangem Pay, shed light on the complex operational realities of rolling out a crypto-linked payment card on a global scale. “It is not simply a question of where people want crypto cards,” Ilinskiy told Cointelegraph, emphasizing the intricate hurdles involved in expanding financial services across borders. “It is where demand, regulation, banking infrastructure and card-issuing requirements happen to line up — and today, those maps do not always overlap.”
The tension between decentralized finance and traditional regulatory frameworks forms a central theme in the company’s product rollout. Tangem noted that while self-custody successfully eliminates major financial boundaries by removing third-party custodians standing between users and their assets, a brand-new set of boundaries instantly emerges the moment those digital assets cross over into a regulated payment network.
Tangem delivers the cards in nearly 200 countries, excluding only 20
Despite the regulatory complexities, Tangem has managed to establish a vast global distribution network for its physical payment cards. The company confirmed that it is currently capable of delivering physical Tangem Pay cards to nearly 200 countries around the globe. However, significant geographical exclusions remain in place.
Physical delivery of the Tangem Pay card is currently restricted in roughly 20 countries, a list that includes China, Russia, North Korea, and Palestine. The company clarified that these delivery and availability restrictions do not necessarily mirror the specific legal rules governing cryptocurrency ownership or trading within those individual jurisdictions. Instead, a complex matrix of factors dictates where a crypto-linked card can legally and operationally be made available.
Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, international sanctions, local banking laws, and strict card-issuing compliance standards all play decisive roles in determining market access. In many cases, the very macroeconomic and political conditions that generate robust local demand for cryptocurrencies as alternative financial rails can simultaneously create severe operational obstacles that make regulated card issuance considerably more difficult.
As part of its broader push to incentivize user adoption and reward cardholders, Tangem is introducing a cashback program denominated in Circle’s USDC stablecoin. Under the structure of the rewards program, eligible purchases will yield cashback rates of 1% for Basic users and 2% for Plus users, providing a steady stream of stablecoin rewards directly tied to everyday spending habits.
Tangem plans to showcase the first physical Tangem Pay cards at the upcoming Token2049 conference in Singapore, offering industry participants and crypto enthusiasts a firsthand look at the physical product as it bridges traditional Visa payment infrastructure with self-custody crypto asset management.
