AmEx CEO: Crypto is Gold, but a Crypto-linked Card is a Long Way Off

The news comes shortly after Squeri said that cryptocurrencies will not disrupt AmEx’s current business model during the company’s third quarter earnings call Friday.

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • American Express CEO said that crypto is an asset class similar to gold, but the company has no plans to offer a crypto-linked card
  • AmEx may explore crypto with membership rewards points

Despite digital assets’ status as a gold-like asset class, American Express is not planning on offering clients a cryptocurrency-linked credit card anytime soon, AmEx CEO Stephen Squeri said Monday.  

“I look at crypto really as more of an asset class, I sort of view it as gold,” Squeri said during Yahoo Finance’s All Market Summit. “I don’t see it as really something that’s going to make inroads from a credit card perspective, or even a debit card perspective, in terms of payment,” 

The infrastructure around digital assets needs to become more substantial and the asset class is currently too volatile to pursue this opportunity, Squeri said. 

The news comes shortly after Squeri said that cryptocurrencies will not disrupt AmEx’s current business model during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Friday. 

“I don’t see any point where crypto is going to be a threat to card payments,” he said during the call. 

Just as AmEx customers do not use their credit cards to purchase securities, Squeri said, he does not expect them to focus on buying cryptocurrencies with their cards either. 

There might be other cryptocurrency-related opportunities for customers down the line, Squeri said. These could include redeeming rewards points for digital assets and the company is involved with using AmEx cards for stablecoins, he said. 

The announcement comes as Mastercard announced its plans to offer clients cryptocurrency-linked credit and debit cards Monday.

​​“We want to offer all of our partners the ability to more easily add crypto services to whatever it is they’re doing,” Sherri Haymond, Mastercard’s executive vice president of digital partnerships, said in an interview. “Our partners, be they banks, fintechs or merchants can offer their customers the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through an integration with the Baktt platform.”

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

Silk Road founder Ulbricht made a triumphant return to the Bitcoin Conference, 10 years on from sentencing

article-image

A Blockworks Research report looked at who could take up some of the marketshare in the launchpad space

article-image

Business-to-business stablecoin payments are on the rise, per a report from Artemis, Dragonfly and Castle Island

article-image

Crypto continues to do its thing: incentivizing behavior

article-image

Kraken will soon offer Backed ‘xStocks’ as Solana tokens

article-image

In a unanimous decision, the US Court of International Trade has ruled that Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are unlawful