Who Needs an Off-Ramp? Ether.fi Plans Visa Card for Crypto Degens
The newest product from liquid restaking startup Ether.fi could finally help "paper rich" crypto degens turn their blockchain investments into spending money.
Ether.fi Cash will be a mobile wallet and Visa credit card that borrows USDC, the popular USD-pegged stablecoin, against one's decentralized finance (DeFi) investments and can be paid off directly via crypto.
"Our mission is to build a suite of integrated apps that make DeFi actually usable for normal people," said Ether.fi founder Mike Silagadze. "Cash is your spending account, with the dream being that you never have to off-ramp" from the blockchain. "Off-ramping" refers to the tedious (and fee-laden) process of converting between cash and crypto.
Today, Ether.fi is best known as a service for funneling assets into EigenLayer, the Ethereum-based restaking giant that helps investors secure upstart blockchain services in exchange for rewards. EigenLayer has drawn in some $18 billion worth of deposits over the past year, with over $5.5 billion coming from users who initially deposited their money into Ether.fi in exchange for eETH tokens – a kind of receipt on EigenLayer deposits that can be traded in crypto markets like any other asset.
In addition to its "Stake" program, Ether.fi also has a "Liquid" program, where users can deposit their funds into vaults that follow hand-curated trading strategies.
