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COTI, the blockchain start-up in charge of issuance of the Cardano-based DJED stablecoin, has announced that its co-branded debit card deal with Nuvei, the firm that acquired Simplex, will be terminated in a month's time. As the firm revealed, co-branded cards from Nuvei will be deactivated as early as Aug. 5.
1/2 COTI Debit Card Update: Nuvei, the company that acquired Simplex, have announced they are terminating their Co-branded Debit card programs by August 5, 2023.
— COTI (@COTInetwork) June 5, 2023
In an email confirmation shared with U.Today, a COTI spokesperson noted that the firm has no influence on the decision to terminate the deal as Nuvei made the move all alone.
While it confirmed it is working on a number of alternatives, COTI has advised its users to move their funds before the deactivation occurs. Notably, COTI was silent on the reasons behind the termination of the deal, but its openness at this early stage will grant users the needed time to adjust to the forthcoming changes.
COTI started issuing its Visa co-branded debit cards alongside Simplex in 2021, with both firms enjoying a robust relationship from that point to date. The product was designed in a unique way, and it gained wider acceptance as each account opened is connected to a real bank account with IBAN.
Gamza KhanzadaevCOTI is just one of the many crypto projects with a co-branded debit card program.
Community reaction to COTI
The COTI community has become quite riled up by the news, as uncertainty as to what the future holds is dampening optimism. Specifically, users sought to know whether or not ending the co-branded debit card program would have any influence on the funds in COTI's treasury.
The fears are justified, considering the ease with which some prominent crypto projects tend to go under with just a slight hiccup in regular operations. A major example was the case with Multichain, a cross-utility blockchain platform that suffered a force majeure event that halted on-chain activities.
While fears of a rugpull were high in the case of Multichain, the protocol resumed operations eventually, per an earlier report by U.Today. COTI users do not want to get pulled into this uncertain territory before taking appropriate action.
Gamza Khanzadaev
Valeria Blokhina
Dan Burgin
Alex Dovbnya