Ether.fi launching ‘crypto-native’ credit card on ZK-rollup Scroll

Ether.fi, a liquid restaking protocol, is launching a ‘crypto-native’ credit card that will settle transactions on Scroll, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network, according to a Sept. 9 post on the X platform. 

Ether.fi Cash is a Visa credit card designed to let users pay with cryptocurrency “anywhere Visa is accepted,” the post said. According to Ether. fi’s website, the degen-branded card comes in tiers dubbed Pepe, Wojak, Chad, and Whale. 

Ether.fi says the card is non-custodial, meaning crypto stays in users’ wallets instead of being transferred to a separate account. Cardholders can finance purchases by borrowing against crypto collateral, including “against eETH, Liquid vault LP tokens and more yield-bearing assets,” according to the website. eETH is an Ether.fi liquid restaking token (LRT).

Cardholders will soon be able to “pay your card balance with native yields,” Ether.fi said. 

Related: EigenLayer rolls out ‘major update’ to restaking contracts

By fusing decentralized finance (DeFi) functionality with a credit card, “you can hold onto your crypto while leveraging it to do more than ever before,” Scroll said in a Sept. 9 X post.

Crypto-friendly payment cards are proliferating, aided by free and virtually instant conversions of USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin, into fiat currency. Among the best-known branded card offerings are those from crypto exchanges Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Gemini, as well as onchain wallet provider Gnosis. 

The crypto credit card market was valued at $97 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach approximately $152 billion by 2030, according to Verified Market Research. However, credit cards purveyed by DeFi protocols are comparatively rare. 

Launched in 2023, Ether.fi lets users contribute Ether (ETH) and its liquid staking derivatives — such as Lido Staked Ether (stETH) — into ‘restaking’ pools in exchange for tradable LRTs. It has already amassed more than $5.5 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama.

Restaking involves taking a token that has already been staked — posted as collateral with a validator in exchange for rewards — and using it to secure other protocols simultaneously. The most established restaking protocol is EigenLayer, which currently commands almost $11 billion in TVL. Others include Symbiotic and Karak. 

Mike Silagadze, Ether.fi’s CEO, said on Aug. 13 the “risk of restaking has not been fully characterized yet,” adding that the “yield is coming from speculation — there really isn’t any other activity right now.” 

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