Coinbase unveils Amex card, Shopify integration
The Amex offers up to 4% bitcoin back, but the deal is a bit ironic considering crypto’s goals
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Coinbase announced a stablecoin payment option on Shopify, as well as an American Express credit card, during yesterday’s State of Crypto Summit.
Buyers making online purchases from an estimated two million businesses using Shopify may soon see USDC on Base as a payment option when checking out, and will have to approve those payments via a third-party crypto wallet.
Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke said during one talk that what a user sees when buying items through the ecommerce site isn’t the whole story. Clicking the “Pay” button initiates many steps on the backend, and adding a price-volatile crypto token can make that even more complicated.
“Stablecoins are obviously key here,” Lutke said.
That said, Shopify has added different types of crypto payment options before — and even tried out offering bitcoin payments way back in 2013 when it had about 70,000 online stores using its platform.
Shopify’s site already lists Solana Pay, Crypto.com, Strike, and half a dozen other crypto payment integrations as options for businesses to choose to opt into. It’s just not clear how many Shopify merchants are actually going for these options.
The USDC on Base payment option is first rolling out in early access, with plans to expand that rollout this year. Lutke said Shopify is also exploring adding 1% cashback, too, as an extra perk.
Stripe’s tech helped make this happen. Merchants can decide whether they want to keep their earnings in USDC or convert it into their native fiat currency.
Both during the livestream and afterwards across different X threads, Coinbase execs and staff pointed out that high credit card fees cutting into merchants’ profits are a point of frustration that crypto could solve. They also emphasized that crypto can go across borders to be a truly global payments option.
Going premium
Somewhat ironically, though, Coinbase unveiled its American Express card yesterday.
The Coinbase One Card uses Amex’s network and isn’t free — but they’re promising 2-4% bitcoin back per purchase. The card will only be available in the US, and will launch sometime this fall. It requires an active Coinbase One Basic ($5 a month or $50 annually) or Coinbase One ($30 a month) subscription in order to apply for the card and keep it valid.
Amex is known for being a premium credit card company with some of the highest fees for merchants.
It’s also known among Amex holders that it can be difficult to find businesses who accept the card outside of the US. (For example, my fiancé and I absolutely struggled earlier this year to find anyone who took Amex during a trip to South Africa. But all shops and restaurants we visited accepted Visa.)
It’s partly in the name: American Express.
American Express sees its brand as increasingly catering to a younger audience willing to spend on something that feels like the luxury option. Coinbase also sees itself as a “premium” brand among crypto companies, Coinbase Ventures exec Shan Aggarwal mentioned during the livestream.
I don’t necessarily disagree. Coinbase has long had some of the best user experience product flows and product designs in crypto — though the fallout from a recently-revealed data breach may have eroded some trust in the brand.
For credit card nerds: the Coinbase One card is expected to weigh 17 grams, which is reportedly the same weight as the invite-only Amex Centurion card that costs thousands a year.
The audience
The Coinbase One subscription is most ideal for frequent traders who want no-fee Coinbase trades, more staking rewards, and prioritized customer service.
“Amex plays extremely well to Millennials, GenZ, the younger generations,” said Amex SVP of Global Network Services Will Stredwick, who sees crypto as “so obviously becoming mainstream.”
A 2024 PolicyGenius survey found that 22% of Millennials surveyed (now between roughly ages 28 to 43) owned crypto, followed by 20% of GenZ (now between ages 19 and 27).
But just 10% of Gen X and 5% of Boomers said they owned crypto.
The Coinbase One Amex is expected to release this fall. It joins a lineup of other crypto payment cards, including crypto debit cards, credit cards, and others that fall somewhere in-between. This year, we’ve seen a slew of crypto card announcements.
There’s a MetaMask Mastercard, a Gemini bitcoin rewards Mastercard, an Avalanche Visa, a Solayer Visa, and others.
All of these cards beg the question: Was crypto ever trying to get away from the traditional financial system? Or has the industry decided, collectively, that the best way to beat the Visas and Amexes of the world was to join them?
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