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Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of the first zk-powered debit card for seamless stablecoin spending, in partnership with Argent, and backed by $3 million in funding. This marks a significant step towards our mission of making self-custodial wallets a mainstream financial tool.

“We’re proud to be launching with Argent as our first non-custodial wallet and working alongside Mastercard to continue contributing to the global adoption of everyday crypto payments.”

Kulipa co-founder and CEO Axel Cateland

Partnering with Argent

A shared vision

Argent, a pioneer in non-custodial wallet technology, has built a trusted platform with over two million users on Starknet. We are proud to collaborate with them to introduce a new kind of debit card that leverages zero-knowledge (zk) technology for secure, low-cost, and scalable transactions.

"By integrating zk technology, users can be confident their transactions are both secure and fully non-custodial, while enjoying the benefits of low fees and true scalability"

Itamar Lesuisse, co-founder and CEO of Argent.

How it works

Our card simplifies crypto spending. When used at a terminal, we seamlessly convert Circle's USDC or Paxos stablecoins to fiat currency, making it effortless for merchants to accept crypto without any additional integration.

This ensures a smooth, familiar debit payment experience for Mastercard users and merchants worldwide, with the added advantage of on-chain settlement.

Making non-custodial wallets mainstream

Our mission

This partnership is a crucial step in our mission to make self-custody wallets a mainstream financial tool. While centralized exchanges have offered crypto cards for some time, the self-custody space has lagged behind. We believe it's time to empower wallets with the tools they need to catch up.

We see two key drivers for increasing the global adoption of self-custody wallets:

• High Retention: Reaching daily use through real-world utility.‍
• ‍Low Friction: Providing a delightful user experience.

How we're helping wallets achieve this

• High Retention: We're transforming wallets into spending hubs by enabling everyday spending with stablecoins. Stablecoins already offer a range of benefits like inflation hedging, instant settlement, and low-cost remittances. Only one thing is missing: being able to spend them anywhere. Our card enables spending stablecoins at any merchant, on any chain, with any wallet infrastructure.

• Low Friction: We offer the only multichain debit card solution, providing a seamless experience for both users and wallet providers. Users can enjoy the convenience of a debit card without the need for topping up, while wallets can easily launch cards on their native chains without worrying about compliance, logistics, or fraud.

The path forward

We raised $3 million in a pre-seed funding round co-led by Fabric Ventures and White Star Capital, in addition to being selected to Mastercard’s Start Path incubator program.

“Although stablecoin adoption has seen exponential growth in the last few years, its most natural use case, payments, has not yet reached the masses”

Sep Alavi, general partner at White Star

This support from top partners will help us establish global presence and issuing capabilities, get integrated with key players in the industry and keep innovating on the future of payment like we’ve done with Argent.

Contact us

We’re excited to open the next chapter of crypto payments.

Want to know more? Want to reach out? Come talk to us here or visit our website at kulipa.xyz!

We're thrilled to announce that Kulipa has been selected to join Mastercard's Start Path Blockchain and Digital Assets program!

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This prestigious program connects high-potential startups with Mastercard's expertise and network to accelerate innovation in the blockchain space. We're excited to explore with Mastercard how blockchain technology can revolutionize the financial system, creating a more efficient and inclusive experience for millions around the world.

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Here's what Axel Cateland, founder of Kulipa, had to say:

“Through Mastercard Start Path, we’re looking to uncover new ways to unlock crypto mass adoption and wider financial inclusion with convenient, global stablecoin payments.”

Sabrina Tharani, SVP of Global Fintech Programs at Mastercard also commented:

“As digital assets become increasingly mainstream, Mastercard is embracing opportunities to support and collaborate with startups to build the future of blockchain and digital assets innovation through the Start Path startup engagement program."

Want to learn more? Check out the full press release here.

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