Hardware wallet manufacturer Tangem AG has announced a strategic partnership with global payments giant Visa to launch a self-custodial crypto payment solution. The collaboration merges a Visa payment card with a hardware wallet, allowing Tangem users to spend cryptocurrencies or stablecoins at any Visa-accepting merchant across Europe, while maintaining full control over their digital assets.
How It Works: Private Key Embedded in Chip
Unlike traditional custodial crypto cards (e.g., those issued by centralized exchanges), Tangem's card stores the user's private key directly in the chip of the physical card. Every transaction requires the physical card to authorize the transfer, ensuring that no third party can freeze or access the funds. Tangem emphasizes that users retain exclusive control over their assets; even if the card is lost, recovery is possible via a mnemonic seed phrase, but the card itself remains the sole transaction authorization tool.
Company Background and Reach
Founded in 2017, Tangem specializes in cold wallet hardware and supports over 6,000 digital assets. To date, the company has produced more than one million secure cards available in over 160 countries. This partnership with Visa marries the security of self-custody with the convenience of the world's largest payment network, aiming to lower the barrier for everyday crypto spending.
Industry Significance and Competitive Landscape
Most existing crypto payment cards are custodial, requiring users to deposit funds with an exchange or wallet provider that manages the private keys. Tangem's Visa card breaks this model, granting users true ownership while benefiting from Visa's global merchant acceptance. This marks a significant step toward bringing self-custody technology to mainstream payment use cases. Visa has been expanding its crypto portfolio, but Tangem is the first partner to offer hardware-level self-custody integration.
Future Plans
Tangem intends to gradually expand the service's availability, initially focusing on Europe with a potential rollout to other regions. Users can manage their card, top up balances, and view transaction history through the Tangem mobile app. As crypto acceptance grows among merchants, self-custodial cards like this could become a key bridge between digital assets and real-world commerce.