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– Rezolve AI CEO Daniel Wagner offers an alternative solution whereby customers can purchase goods and services without having to convert cryptocurrency into fiat.

For quite some time now, cryptocurrency exchanges have been looking for ways to make it easier for customers to spend their Bitcoin, Ethereum and Stablecoins using Visa and Mastercard.

Daniel Wagner, founder and CEO of Rezolve AI, sees the new plastic as the opposite of cryptocurrencies in some ways.

“It’s bananas, Wagner said in an interview with The Block. “There are cryptocurrency players on the blockchain offering credit cards outside of the blockchain. The whole thing just looks ridiculous.

At least as recently as last year, exchanges and wallet providers were issuing Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards in an attempt to attract more users, increase their utility and retention. Payment giants such as PayPal, Venmo and Stripe, as well as fintech companies Revolut and Nubank, are in one way or another giving companies and customers the ability to spend cryptocurrency via plastic, even if the digital assets are converted to fiat at the time of payment.

“What’s the point? You get a Mastercard, top it up with cryptocurrency, which is actually no longer cryptocurrency but fiat, and pay in the usual way, thinking it’s cryptocurrency – but it’s not, Wagner noted. “It’s not a correct application of blockchain at all; it’s just an attempt to close the convenience gap by migrating to old infrastructure.

While Wagner accurately described the mechanism, the issuance of physical cards by cryptocurrency exchanges is a way for these platforms to compete with traditional banks.

With cash usage declining, card payments are becoming almost inevitable. And even Wagner admits that, still, chains like Starbucks don’t use crypto wallets, which would be required if customers could pay for goods with cryptocurrency, bypassing conversion to fiat.

Wagner’s criticisms of cryptocurrencies may partly reflect his own interests, as his company offers another solution that allows customers to buy goods and services without converting cryptocurrency to fiat.

Last year, Rezolve AI, looking to expand its business, partnered with Tether, the largest issuer of stable coins, to make it easier to use cryptocurrency for everyday expenses.

Cryptocurrency is a currency, not just an asset; it’s mostly seen as an asset now. People buy crypto and trade it like stocks, but they don’t use it to buy, say, a cup of coffee at Starbucks, Wagner said.

With its Brain Checkout platform, Rezolve AI aims to allow Tether holders to make online transactions with their wallet without converting USDT or Bitcoin into fiat money to complete the purchase. To incentivize merchants to use Rezolve AI’s service, the company converts cryptocurrency to fiat for merchants without charging a fee. In a month and a half, we’ve reached 44 million consumer devices.