How MetaMask Card, a Mastercard debit card that enables instant spending directly from your self-custody wallet, is enabled by the speed and cost-efficiency of the Linea network running on top of Ethereum.

Editor’s Note: The MetaMask Card pilot is now available in the EU, UK, Switzerland, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

MetaMask Card launched via a pilot program in the UK and EU countries earlier this year and availability will expand to other countries in the coming weeks and months. MetaMask Card enables spending directly from your MetaMask wallet on real-world transactions, with conversion to fiat currencies happening only at the point of payment.

MetaMask Card is not a prepaid, top-up or credit card with crypto rewards like other offerings, but rather a real crypto debit card offering a single way to save, spend and live. With MetaMask Card, you can spend your crypto anywhere, on or off chain, while earning interest on stablecoins or participating in the rich DeFi ecosystem that MetaMask both inhabits and enables – all in a totally self-sovereign way.

Linea is the home network for MetaMask Card because it's also the network of DeFi, stablecoins, tokenized real world assets (RWAs) and all the building blocks of a better, more beneficial personal banking experience.  Spend your USDC on dinner out with friends or take the night in to explore the world of DeFi and grow your assets. Your keys, your crypto - your card.

There are numerous reasons Linea makes the most sense to be the network where all MetaMask Card transactions are executed, but we can group the most important into four big buckets. It’s about Finality, Ethereum, Tools and Enterprise Readiness.

Finality:

• Linea’s zkEVM architecture offers real zk finality with no execution delay. Compare this with most other chains that require seven days or the traditional finance world where payments can still take three days to clear.

• Payments in the real world are messy and can involve multiple hops across different rails between card issuers, banks and networks like SWIFT. Paying direct from your MetaMask wallet on Linea reduces this latency and speeds up settlement.

Ethereum:

• Linea is one of only two Ethereum-equivalent zkEVM L2s. Linea is the same Ethereum you and countless engineers know well - down to the byte codes.

• Being Ethereum equivalent also means there is an expansive extant ecosystem of open source, audited, defi code bases to borrow from.

Tools:

• Linea is boot-strapped by Consensys and shares DNA with critical Ethereum ecosystem products and projects like MetaMask, Infura, DIN and Besu.

• MetaMask is optimally compatible with Linea - connecting you to millions of users worldwide.

• Besu is maintained by Consensys engineers and one of five major Ethereum clients; it’s also increasingly the client used by banks.

• Infura is optimized for Linea, allowing easy interactions via this ubiquitous node-as-a-service.

Enterprise Readiness:

• Consensys has a deep history of work on applications for financial institutions, including major projects with JP Morgan, UBS, SocGen, DTCC, Union Bank, HSBC and Mastercard.

• MetaMask Card is currently live in Europe and the UK (with more countries coming soon), and executing every payment on the Linea network.

MetaMask will soon expand pilot access to MetaMask Card to users in the United States with more countries and wider availability in the months to follow. More permissionless ways to spend, save and live are in your future! Follow this link to join the waitlist.