On the long journey of Web3 towards mainstream adoption, 'payments' have always been the most anticipated yet most challenging track. For a long time, the industry's dream has been to build a seamless bridge that allows ordinary people to easily use crypto assets in the real world, similar to using credit cards.
In June 2025, this dream seemed to welcome two completely opposite footnotes. On one side, the payment giant Mastercard, in collaboration with leading oracle Chainlink, grandly announced a monumental blueprint to enable over 3 billion cardholders worldwide to directly 'swipe their cards to buy coins'. On the other side, however, the highly praised U card service provider Infini quietly announced the complete shutdown of all its card payment services, causing an uproar in the community.
On one side are the ambitions of traditional financial giants, while on the other side is the helpless exit of Web3 native explorers. This stark contrast raises a profound question: is the financial card seen as a tool for cryptocurrencies to break into the mainstream a broad avenue for widespread adoption, or is it destined to be a transitional product 'stuck' by the traditional financial system?
Grand Vision
Recently, the payment giant Mastercard and the blockchain oracle project Chainlink jointly announced that they have reached a strategic cooperation aimed at completely breaking down the barriers between fiat currency and the on-chain economy. The core goal of this collaboration is to enable over 3 billion Mastercard cardholders globally to use their credit cards to purchase crypto assets on the blockchain safely and in compliance.
This is not a simple cooperation statement; behind it is an extremely complex integration plan involving technology and compliance. According to the information disclosed by both parties, the system is connected by Chainlink, integrating multiple partners including Zerohash (responsible for compliance and custody), Swapper Finance (providing decentralized trading pathways), and Shift4 Payments (responsible for backend payment authorization). Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov admitted that this is an "extremely complex and intertwined technological cooperation," and its successful implementation is a key milestone achieved through multi-party collaboration.
The significance of this step is extremely profound. In the past, the mainstream crypto co-branded cards on the market primarily served the function of 'spending coins'—real-time conversion of crypto assets in users' wallets into fiat currency for card consumption. The new pathway created by Mastercard and Chainlink goes against this, allowing credit cards to become a direct 'entry point for buying coins', meaning that in the future, users may no longer need to go through cumbersome steps such as registering on exchanges, KYC verification, or bank transfers to purchase cryptocurrencies; instead, they could simply enter their card number as if shopping on Amazon. This initiative directly targets billions of existing cardholders around the world, representing the largest attempt yet to reach mainstream crypto users.
Raj Dhamodharan, Executive Vice President of Mastercard's Blockchain and Digital Assets division, emphasized: "Global users expect a smoother connection to the crypto asset ecosystem, and we are paving a secure and innovative road to reshape the possibilities of on-chain commerce and accelerate the acceptance of crypto assets in mainstream markets."
Mastercard's entry seems to herald the arrival of a 'mainstream era' of crypto payments led by traditional financial giants. However, almost simultaneously, another piece of news cast a shadow of reality over this beautiful vision.
Harsh Reality
Infini, a crypto neobank based in Hong Kong, launched the U card, which received widespread acclaim in the Asian crypto community for its simple interface, stable financial returns, and smooth payment experience, once seen as a model for Web3 payments. However, in June, Infini suddenly announced in its official community that it would immediately shut down all its card payment services. The reason behind this decision reveals the core dilemma currently faced by the crypto financial card sector.
Christine, co-founder of Infini, candidly stated in the community that closing the card business was due to extremely helpless commercial considerations: "The reason is that compliance costs are extremely high, profits are extremely thin, and operations are very heavy. Currently, the to C (consumer-facing) card business occupies 99% of the time and cost, contributing 0 income." She likened this reliance on the traditional financial system for crypto card business to a beautifully designed 'iPod nano', which, although it looks beautiful, will ultimately be replaced by a more revolutionary Web3 native solution like the 'iPhone'.
Famous blockchain media personality Colin Wu commented: "The U card is indeed difficult; the neck is stuck in traditional finance. No matter how good the user experience is, it is of no use at all." This statement pinpointed the crux of the problem. The so-called 'stuck neck' manifests in several aspects:
Cost Black Hole: If Web3 startups want to issue financial cards that can be swiped globally, they still have to rely on core clearing networks like Visa or Mastercard, and cannot bypass the layers of intermediaries like issuing banks and acquiring institutions. Each layer of intermediary takes a fee, leading to significantly higher operational costs than traditional credit cards.
Profit Dilemma: To compete with Web2 credit cards and attract users, crypto card companies often need to offer fee waivers or even cash back. Given their own high costs, this means that for every transaction, there is an additional loss. This 'burning cash to subsidize' model is fundamentally unsustainable for startups without strong capital backing.
Compliance Maze: The entire process also involves extremely complicated regulatory, risk control, KYC (Know Your Customer), and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) audits. These compliance steps not only consume a significant amount of human and material resources but also greatly reduce product flexibility.
The experience of Infini proves that even if a team possesses excellent product design and execution capabilities, as long as its core business path is firmly controlled by traditional financial systems, it may ultimately be forced to transform due to the inability to bear the high 'toll'.
Imitate Web2, or create Web3?
The grand vision of Mastercard and the exit of Infini precisely represent two radically different paths in the field of crypto payments, along with the opportunities and challenges they each face.
Path One: Top-down Integration (Mastercard Model)
Led by traditional financial giants, using their existing large networks, user bases, and compliance capabilities to 'integrate' crypto assets into the existing system. The advantage of this model is that it can quickly reach mainstream audiences, but the downside is that the rules of the game are entirely set by traditional giants, and the core advantages of Web3, such as decentralization and low cost, will be significantly weakened.
Path Two: Bottom-up Revolution (Infini's New Direction)
Led by a Web3 native team, realizing that 'taking the traditional financial route' is not feasible, they turned to focus on developing completely decentralized and bank-independent crypto-native solutions. Infini emphasized in its announcement that it will 'abandon centralized paths' and fully embrace decentralized payment solutions while focusing on asset management and other products that can better leverage Web3 advantages.
Infini's retreat is not a failure of crypto payments but a costly market education. It tells all Web3 entrepreneurs: attempting to replicate a Web2 product within the framework of traditional finance is likely a dead end. The real revolution may not lie in making cryptocurrencies more like credit cards but in creating a brand new financial interaction logic that is not 'stuck'.
Mastercard's plans are undoubtedly exciting; they may become an important gateway for hundreds of millions of users to initially explore the crypto world in the coming years. However, in the long run, the vast universe of Web3 still lies in those explorers who can break free from old constraints and create native application scenarios. The story of Infini is a necessary and awakening turn in this great exploration.