I Tried The New Tangem Debit Card (And It Actually Worked!) — Transcript

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1. 0:00So the one thing I feel that has always
2. 0:01been missing in crypto is the ability to
3. 0:04actually spend it. Like what can you
4. 0:05actually do with crypto other than stare
5. 0:07at numbers on a screen? I know I'm not
6. 0:09the only one who has thought this.
7. 0:10[music] Well, Tangem has been rolling
8. 0:12out their crypto debit card for over a
9. 0:14year now
10. 0:15>> [music]
11. 0:15>> and I was finally able to activate mine
12. 0:17and buy some groceries with it. So this
13. 0:19is my hands-on experience and thoughts
14. 0:22on Tangem's new crypto debit card. So
15. 0:24this is Tangem Pay. The idea behind it
16. 0:26is pretty simple. It's a crypto debit
17. 0:27card that lets you spend your crypto the
18. 0:30same way you would spend regular money.
19. 0:31So you can buy groceries, you can shop
20. 0:33online, you can pay your bills, you can
21. 0:35even withdraw cash from an ATM
22. 0:37eventually. And since it's a Visa
23. 0:39product, you can use it pretty much
24. 0:40anywhere Visa's accepted including
25. 0:42stores that support Apple and Google
26. 0:44Pay. But what makes this interesting
27. 0:46isn't what you can buy with it. It's
28. 0:48actually where the crypto is held before
29. 0:50you spend it. Because unlike some other
30. 0:52crypto debit cards like Coinbase Visa or
31. 0:54Kraken card where you have to leave your
32. 0:55crypto in an account that's controlled
33. 0:57by an exchange, Tangem Pay is a self-
34. 1:00custodial wallet. So you remain in
35. 1:01control of your crypto, it's not held in
36. 1:03a bank account, it's not held in a
37. 1:04crypto exchange. Your crypto stays in
38. 1:06your possession until you decide to
39. 1:08spend it. And if you decide that you
40. 1:10don't want to spend your crypto, well,
41. 1:11you can withdraw it directly back into
42. 1:13your Tangem wallet or even transfer it
43. 1:15directly to your bank account. So I
44. 1:17think the idea is to give you the
45. 1:19convenience of a regular debit card but
46. 1:21with the control of a self-custodial
47. 1:23crypto wallet. Now, I know that all
48. 1:25sounds good but there are a few things I
49. 1:27wanted to know before using Tangem Pay.
50. 1:29Starting with the fees. Remember, we're
51. 1:31still dealing with crypto here which
52. 1:33means there's going to be blockchain
53. 1:34fees. So every transaction will incur
54. 1:37some type of blockchain network fee,
55. 1:39same as if you're moving crypto around
56. 1:40in your wallet. For example, when you
57. 1:42transfer crypto into your Tangem Pay
58. 1:43account, there is a blockchain fee.
59. 1:46Fortunately though, Tangem thought
60. 1:47ahead. Since blockchain fees vary
61. 1:49depending on which network you're using,
62. 1:51they chose more efficient networks like
63. 1:53Polygon, BNB, Base, and Arbitrum. So
64. 1:56fees are maybe a few cents at most. On
65. 1:58the other hand, this is still
66. 1:59technically a Visa product. So, there
67. 2:01are some more traditional debit card
68. 2:03fees as well. Like, if you withdraw cash
69. 2:05from an ATM, for example, once the
70. 2:07physical version of the card is
71. 2:08released, there's a 4% fee, and ACH
72. 2:11transfers to your bank cost $1, and
73. 2:14Fedwire transfers, which are typically
74. 2:15used for moving larger amounts of money,
75. 2:17cost $11. So, it's not completely free
76. 2:20to do everything, but neither is a
77. 2:21normal debit card. So, for basic
78. 2:23everyday purchases or buying stuff
79. 2:25online, there's no monthly fee or
80. 2:27standard purchase fee, which is probably
81. 2:30how most people are going to use this
82. 2:31card anyways. That said, something else
83. 2:33worth looking into are the different
84. 2:34card options, because depending on which
85. 2:36one you choose, you could have lower
86. 2:38fees and better cash back rewards. The
87. 2:40first option is the basic card. This
88. 2:43one's completely free to set up and use.
89. 2:45It's the one that I've been using. You
90. 2:47get a virtual Visa debit card, a $10,000
91. 2:50daily spending limit, 1% cash back on
92. 2:52certain purchases, and the ability to
93. 2:55create up to three cards. And for
94. 2:57someone who's just interested in trying
95. 2:59Tangem Pay or using it for normal
96. 3:01everyday spending, I think this is
97. 3:04probably the best option. The cool thing
98. 3:06about the basic card though is I know a
99. 3:08lot of you want a physical plastic
100. 3:10Tangem Pay Visa card. Well, you'll still
101. 3:13be able to get that once they release
102. 3:14it. You'll just have to buy it. Uh other
103. 3:16than that though, I think this one is
104. 3:18pretty standard. Now, for those of you
105. 3:19who appreciate a better cash back option
106. 3:22and higher daily spending limits, there
107. 3:24is the plus card, and this one costs $29
108. 3:27per month, but it bumps your cash back
109. 3:29up to 2%, increases your daily spending
110. 3:32limit to $50,000,
111. 3:34and it lets you create up to five
112. 3:36different Visa cards. You also get free
113. 3:38ACH and Fedwire transfers, so you save
114. 3:41on certain fees, and you get a little
115. 3:43more cash back, but for a monthly fee.
116. 3:46Also, one other thing is that once the
117. 3:49physical Tangem Pay Visa card is
118. 3:50released, you'll get one for free. And
119. 3:52lastly, for you big spenders, there is
120. 3:55the prestige card, which isn't actually
121. 3:57available yet, but according to Tangem,
122. 3:59it's coming soon. So, the prestige card
123. 4:02will be $83 per month, but you get 4%
124. 4:05cash back, you get a $100,000 daily
125. 4:07spending limit, and you can create up to
126. 4:0910 Visa cards, plus you get eight free
127. 4:12airport lounge visits per year. So, if
128. 4:14you're some kind of high roller who
129. 4:16travels a lot, this could make sense,
130. 4:18but for most people, probably not.
131. 4:20Ultimately though, I like how there's an
132. 4:21option for everyone. You've got the free
133. 4:24option for, you know, normal spending
134. 4:26and paying bills, then you have two paid
135. 4:28options for people who either want some
136. 4:30higher limits, better cash back, and
137. 4:32some other extra benefits. But, for most
138. 4:34people, I think the basic plan or even
139. 4:36the Plus card will be the obvious
140. 4:38choice. For me, the basic card has been
141. 4:40awesome, especially cuz I just wanted to
142. 4:42kind of test out Tangem Pay and see how
143. 4:44it works. But, of course, none of this
144. 4:45would really be attractive if it wasn't
145. 4:48actually easy to set up and use. So, let
146. 4:49me show you my experience setting up the
147. 4:51card and using it at a couple stores to
148. 4:53buy some groceries. Now, first things
149. 4:55first, Tangem Pay isn't available
150. 4:57everywhere yet, but it is available in
151. 4:59most US states, along with some other
152. 5:01supported countries in South America,
153. 5:03Africa, and the Middle East. And you do
154. 5:05need a Tangem hardware wallet to use
155. 5:07Tangem Pay. So, if you don't have a
156. 5:09Tangem hardware wallet, I'll drop a link
157. 5:11in the description that will get you a
158. 5:12nice discount, along with my full Tangem
159. 5:14wallet user guide that shows you exactly
160. 5:16how to set it up, since that's
161. 5:18technically the first step to using
162. 5:19Tangem Pay. But, assuming you already
163. 5:21have a Tangem wallet, the setup process
164. 5:23is really straightforward. First, start
165. 5:25by opening the link in the description
166. 5:27of this video, and scan the QR code.
167. 5:29This opens up the Tangem app and will
168. 5:31start the entire process. So, you're
169. 5:33going to choose which type of card you
170. 5:34want for the Tangem Pay setup. In my
171. 5:37case, I went with the basic card. From
172. 5:39there, tap get card, enter your access
173. 5:41code, and then scan the card associated
174. 5:43with your wallet. Now, there's one
175. 5:44important thing to know here. Even
176. 5:46though Tangem Pay is self-custodial,
177. 5:49you'll still have to verify your
178. 5:50identity to get a debit card. Again,
179. 5:52this is still a Visa product, and just
180. 5:53like opening a bank account, there are
181. 5:55certain verification requirements, so
182. 5:57you'll need to enter some basic
183. 5:59information like your country, state,
184. 6:01upload a photo of your ID, and take a
185. 6:02selfie, and then you'll verify your
186. 6:05email address and phone number using the
187. 6:06codes that they send you. Once
188. 6:08everything is approved, your Tangem Pay
189. 6:09card is issued in a matter of minutes
190. 6:11and linked to a new payment account
191. 6:13inside your Tangem app, and that's
192. 6:15pretty much the setup process. Like it's
193. 6:17nothing overly complicated. But now
194. 6:20you've got a debit card with no money on
195. 6:21it. So, the next step is to actually
196. 6:23fund it. And this is where Tangem Pay
197. 6:26gets a little interesting because there
198. 6:28are a couple of ways that you can add
199. 6:31money or crypto to your card. Inside the
200. 6:34Tangem app, just open up your payment
201. 6:35account and tap add funds. From here,
202. 6:38you have a few options. You can transfer
203. 6:40USDC or USDT from another wallet, or you
204. 6:43can use crypto from your Tangem harder
205. 6:45wallet. Since I already have crypto
206. 6:46sitting in my Tangem harder wallet,
207. 6:48that's exactly what I did. Now, the
208. 6:50important thing to understand is that
209. 6:51Tangem Pay doesn't actually let you
210. 6:53spend Bitcoin or XRP directly when you
211. 6:55buy something. If you are starting with
212. 6:57any crypto that isn't USDT or USDC, you
213. 7:00have to convert it before you can send
214. 7:02it to your Tangem Pay account. So, USDC
215. 7:05and USDT are both stable coins designed
216. 7:07to remain at the same value as the US
217. 7:09dollar, which is why it's used for the
218. 7:12debit card. Otherwise, the money on your
219. 7:14card would fluctuate up and down, which
220. 7:16could become an issue. But that's not to
221. 7:18say that you can't spend your Bitcoin or
222. 7:20your XRP or whatever it is. You can
223. 7:23convert pretty much any crypto in your
224. 7:25Tangem harder wallet either to USDC or
225. 7:27USDT so that you can use it for your
226. 7:30Tangem Pay card and spend it pretty much
227. 7:32anywhere in the world. So, here's how
228. 7:33that works. First, select the crypto
229. 7:35that you want to use, then enter how
230. 7:37much you want to convert. The app is
231. 7:39going to find the best provider with the
232. 7:41best rates and fees, so before you
233. 7:43actually swap the crypto, you'll be able
234. 7:45to review those things. Now, I'm using
235. 7:47Ethereum here, which isn't exactly known
236. 7:49for having the cheapest network fees,
237. 7:51but as you can see, the blockchain fee
238. 7:53for this particular transaction is only
239. 7:5631 cents, so not too terrible. And I'm
240. 7:59only paying this fee because I decided
241. 8:01to swap a crypto that isn't supported by
242. 8:03Tangem Pay for one that is, and since
243. 8:06that's a blockchain transaction, there
244. 8:08is a blockchain network fee. Now,
245. 8:09assuming everything looks good, just
246. 8:11press swap. The app is going to handle
247. 8:13the conversion and send the supported
248. 8:15stable coins directly to your Tangem Pay
249. 8:17account. And you can actually see the
250. 8:19progress of the transaction toward the
251. 8:20bottom of the screen. For me, this
252. 8:22process only took a minute or two. Once
253. 8:24it's finished, the funds showed up in my
254. 8:26payment account ready to spend. And it's
255. 8:28really that easy. So, now I've got
256. 8:30crypto in my Tangem Pay account and a
257. 8:32debit card linked to it. So, I'm ready
258. 8:34to go shopping. we do that, I want to
259. 8:36show you a few things inside the app
260. 8:38worth messing around with. For starters,
261. 8:40if you tap on your card and select
262. 8:41details, you'll find all the information
263. 8:43you would normally see on a physical
264. 8:45debit card. So, you've got your card
265. 8:47number, name, expiration date, and that
266. 8:49three-digit CVC number on the back. You
267. 8:52can also create a PIN for your card,
268. 8:54which I'd recommend doing. Although,
269. 8:57apparently 1 2 3 4 isn't an acceptable
270. 8:59PIN. I know because this this the first
271. 9:01thing that I tried. So, you'll have to
272. 9:03come up with something a little more
273. 9:05creative. Another useful feature is the
274. 9:07ability to temporarily freeze your card.
275. 9:09Super cool. So, if you notice a
276. 9:11suspicious transaction or think your
277. 9:12card details might have been leaked, or
278. 9:15you just want to prevent someone else
279. 9:16from using your card, you can freeze it
280. 9:18directly inside the app, and you can
281. 9:20unfreeze it whenever you want. Okay,
282. 9:22now, once you actually start using
283. 9:24Tangem Pay, you're going to see all of
284. 9:25your purchases listed under your payment
285. 9:27account. Everything is organized by
286. 9:29date, and you can tap any transaction to
287. 9:32see more information about it. There's
288. 9:34also a separate cashback section where
289. 9:36you can see how much you've earned and
290. 9:39when those rewards are expected to hit
291. 9:40your account. So, overall, nothing too
292. 9:42crazy here, and that's a good thing
293. 9:44because Tangem has always been known as
294. 9:46the simple wallet, and that carries over
295. 9:48into Tangem Pay, too. All right, now
296. 9:50that we've got everything set up and you
297. 9:52know how to navigate the app, there's
298. 9:53just one more thing we need to do before
299. 9:55we can actually spend our crypto. So,
300. 9:57I'm using an iPhone, which means I'll be
301. 9:59adding my Tangem Visa to Apple Pay. And
302. 10:02if you're using an Android, you can do
303. 10:03the same thing with Google Pay. Tangem
304. 10:05makes this really easy because there's a
305. 10:07button inside the app that'll give you
306. 10:09step-by-step instructions for whichever
307. 10:11phone that you're using. But, here's the
308. 10:13basic process. Open the wallet app on
309. 10:16your phone, tap the little plus icon,
310. 10:18select debit card, and press continue.
311. 10:21Now, once Tangem releases its physical
312. 10:22debit card, you'll be able to hold the
313. 10:24physical card up against the back of
314. 10:26your phone to enter the details
315. 10:27automatically. But, since we're using a
316. 10:28virtual card, I'm just going to select
317. 10:30enter card details manually. From here,
318. 10:33you're basically switching between the
319. 10:34Tangem app and your phone's wallet app,
320. 10:36and you're just copying over the number,
321. 10:38your name, expiration date, and the CVC.
322. 10:41Once everything's entered, agree to the
323. 10:42terms and conditions, finish any
324. 10:44remaining verification steps, and your
325. 10:46Tangem Pay card will appear in your
326. 10:48phone's wallet. And that's it. You can
327. 10:50now spend your crypto at over 150
328. 10:53million Visa terminals worldwide and
329. 10:55online. So, pretty much anywhere Apple
330. 10:57and Google Pay are accepted. So, now
331. 10:59time for the fun part. Let's actually
332. 11:00buy some stuff with crypto. My first
333. 11:02stop was Costco. I bought a couple
334. 11:04things just to test it, and it worked
335. 11:06flawlessly. Same steps as using Apple
336. 11:08Pay. I just double-tapped the side
337. 11:09button on my phone to bring up my Tangem
338. 11:11Pay card. Then, I hold my phone up to
339. 11:14the terminal, and the transaction goes
340. 11:16through instantly. I also bought a
341. 11:18couple more items at Walmart. Same
342. 11:20thing. Just bring up the Tangem Pay on
343. 11:22my phone, hold it up to the payment
344. 11:23terminal, and I'm done. Super easy, just
345. 11:26like using a normal debit card or Apple
346. 11:28Pay. Overall, it doesn't feel like
347. 11:29you're using crypto because all the
348. 11:31complicated blockchain transactions and
349. 11:33conversions are happening in the
350. 11:34background. You don't have to really
351. 11:36mess with anything. There's no manually
352. 11:38approving a blockchain transaction. You
353. 11:40holding your phone up to the terminal is
354. 11:41the approval. You don't have to open up
355. 11:44the Tangem app even, and you don't have
356. 11:45to wait around at the store for your
357. 11:47crypto to transfer to the store. It all
358. 11:48happens automatically. So, from the
359. 11:50user's perspective, it works just like a
360. 11:52regular old debit card or Apple Pay. And
361. 11:55I think that's really the appeal of
362. 11:57something like this. You get the benefit
363. 11:59of being in control of your crypto, but
364. 12:01you have the option to spend it whenever
365. 12:03and wherever you want. And if crypto
366. 12:05mass adoption is going to happen, I
367. 12:07think this is a step in the right
368. 12:09direction. Now, by no means am I saying
369. 12:11Tangem Pay is perfect that it's
370. 12:12something that everyone will need? There
371. 12:15are still some things worth
372. 12:17understanding, especially when it comes
373. 12:19to taxes and security. And these are
374. 12:21really the two biggest questions or
375. 12:23concerns that I've seen since Tangent
376. 12:25Pay has launched. So, let's talk about
377. 12:27it. The biggest fear I've seen from most
378. 12:29people is that you'll actually have to
379. 12:31pay additional taxes on every
380. 12:33transaction you make with your Tangent
381. 12:35Pay card, which would make sense because
382. 12:38in the US at least, anytime you spend
383. 12:40crypto, which is the equivalent of
384. 12:42disposing of your crypto for a product
385. 12:44or service, it's considered a taxable
386. 12:46event. But just because it's a taxable
387. 12:48event, doesn't mean you owe money.
388. 12:50According to the IRS, you'd only owe
389. 12:52money if the disposal of your crypto
390. 12:54results in you making money. For
391. 12:56example, if I buy $100 worth of Bitcoin
392. 12:59today and then sell it for $200 a month
393. 13:01later because it increased in value, I'd
394. 13:03owe taxes on that $100 in profit that I
395. 13:06made. But if you buy $100 worth of USDC
396. 13:09and then dispose of it a month later
397. 13:11because I did some grocery shopping,
398. 13:13even though that's technically a taxable
399. 13:14event, I wouldn't owe any money because
400. 13:17I didn't make any money. I bought $100
401. 13:19worth of USDC and I sold it for $100
402. 13:21worth of USDC. So, it's a one-to-one
403. 13:23transaction. That's why Tangent Pay uses
404. 13:26stablecoins. Now, there is one important
405. 13:28exception though. Let's say instead of
406. 13:30buying USDC directly, I buy $100 worth
407. 13:33of Bitcoin today and next month that
408. 13:35Bitcoin is worth $200, so I decide to
409. 13:37convert it into $200 worth of USDC and
410. 13:40add that to my Tangent Pay account.
411. 13:42Well, now we've got two taxable
412. 13:43transactions. The first one is when I
413. 13:46convert my Bitcoin to USDC and the
414. 13:48second one is when I actually spend that
415. 13:50USDC at the store. But here's the
416. 13:52difference. Only one of those
417. 13:54transactions results in me making money
418. 13:58or making a profit. The moment I convert
419. 13:59my $200 worth of Bitcoin to USDC, I've
420. 14:02made $100 in profit since I originally
421. 14:05bought that Bitcoin for $100. And
422. 14:07because swapping one crypto for another
423. 14:09is considered a sale for tax purposes, I
424. 14:12potentially owe taxes on that $100 gain.
425. 14:15But when I go to the store and spend
426. 14:17that $200 in USDC, I haven't made any
427. 14:20additional profit. So, even though
428. 14:22spending it is another taxable
429. 14:24transaction, there's no additional gain
430. 14:26to pay taxes on. So, the important thing
431. 14:28to understand is that it's not
432. 14:30necessarily spending crypto with Tangem
433. 14:33Pay that results in owing taxes.
434. 14:35It's whether you actually made a profit
435. 14:37somewhere along the way that would
436. 14:39determine if you actually owe the IRS
437. 14:40money. So, if you want to avoid owing
438. 14:42taxes, your best option is going to be
439. 14:44to buy USDT or USDC directly to fund
440. 14:47your Tangem Pay account, and then save
441. 14:49potentially converting your Bitcoin,
442. 14:51XRP, or other cryptos that fluctuate in
443. 14:54value for emergency situations. Okay,
444. 14:57now the second question that I see a lot
445. 14:59is whether using Tangem Pay somehow
446. 15:01makes your Tangem hardware wallet less
447. 15:03secure because you're essentially mixing
448. 15:06your hardware wallet, which is supposed
449. 15:08to keep your crypto or your keys
450. 15:10offline, and you are connecting it to an
451. 15:12experience that is a debit card that's
452. 15:15more centralized that you could just,
453. 15:16you know, use at Walmart. Well, the
454. 15:17important thing to understand is that
455. 15:19Tangem Pay and your Tangem hardware
456. 15:20wallet or your Tangem cards are two
457. 15:23completely separate wallets. Yes,
458. 15:24they're both self-custodial wallets, but
459. 15:26they each have their own private key.
460. 15:28So, even though both wallets appear
461. 15:29inside the same Tangem app, they don't
462. 15:31actually share the same keys, and using
463. 15:34Tangem Pay doesn't expose the keys from
464. 15:36your hardware wallet. Those keys remain
465. 15:38offline on the secure element chip
466. 15:41inside your cards, and that's where you
467. 15:43still want to hold your crypto long-term
468. 15:45for safekeeping, and then you'll just
469. 15:46use your Tangem Pay account as your
470. 15:48literal spending account as needed.
471. 15:50Okay, so I kind of touched on it
472. 15:51earlier, but if you already have a
473. 15:53Tangem wallet and Tangem Pay is
474. 15:55available where you live, you can start
475. 15:57the setup process using the link in the
476. 15:58description. Now, if you don't already
477. 16:00have a Tangem hardware wallet, you can
478. 16:02watch my latest hands-on review in this
479. 16:04next video to see if it's the right
480. 16:05wallet for you. I'll meet you over
481. 16:07there. God bless.