What Is SORA Card?

Ever since Bitcoin made people wonder about the nature of money, a big question mark was plastered on the future of finance. While the consensus is that it will be digital, that is not saying much. At the end of the line, people crave convenience, one that anchors into the existing financial rails.

This is why cryptocurrency cards offered by Binance Card and Crypto.com have gained immense popularity. Nonetheless, the bankruptcies of BlockFi and FTX have shown that convenience should not overshadow the importance of self-custody. Can we have the best of both worlds with a SORA Card?

SORA Card: Marrying TradFi and DeFi

At this point in monetary history, what would push personal finance the most? To answer that, we have to start from the current landscape that is perceived as cutting-edge:

• Crypto exchanges partner with established electronic payment rails, such as Visa or Mastercard.
• Crypto exchanges issue cards, integrating digital assets, which can then be used just like regular fiat cards at worldwide merchants.
• These crypto cards monetize use with cashback rewards.

While that is an improvement over standard debit cards, this approach is sorely lacking in key areas: self-custody of funds, privacy, and decentralization. SORA Card is a unique upgrade of this model, likely to become a benchmark.

• Instead of just holding cryptocurrencies, SORA Card also connects to an IBAN account.
• Instead of being limited to fiat transfers, SORA Card offers all funding options: crypto, bank (SEPA) transfer, and card.
• Instead of being an account dependent on the solvency of exchanges, SORA Card wallets are self-custodial.
• Instead of being limited to centralized exchanges for asset swaps, SORA card offers both CEXs and DEXs.

Altogether, SORA Card offers access to both crypto and fiat assets within a single wallet, while retaining the spirit of DeFi — self-custody, privacy, and decentralization. Here is how SORA Card scores when compared to other established players.

With that said, SORA Card is a new addition to the digital finance landscape, available soon at soracard.com. Before it launches, it is important to understand how it works and what kind of upgrades can be expected in the future.

SORA Network as SORA Card’s Blockchain Homeland

To offer the same access to fiat rails but still provide self-custody and access to DeFi apps, such a card would have to bridge the blockchain-fiat gap. SORA Card does it by emerging from the SORA network.

SORA network (XOR) is a parachain within the Polkadot network. As a Layer 0 blockchain, Polkadot serves as the bedrock of blockchain networks, allowing for their interoperability wherein each parachain can be customized to run dedicated applications.

One such application is SORA, a new DeFi infrastructure that is scalable for mass adoption thanks to Polkadot’s fast and cheap transactions. Reminder, Polkadot already uses sharded architecture to address scalability and cross-chain transfers, which Ethereum is yet to accomplish.

Of course, being a Polkadot parachain, SORA can lead users across bridges to other blockchains, such as Ethereum and other EVM-compatible networks.

On this blockchain infrastructure, SORA Card connects to the self-custodial SORA Wallet. Down the line, mobile Fearless Wallet will also be supported, available for both Android and iOS as a native Polkadot wallet.

Nonetheless, although users will benefit from SORA Card as SORA or Ethereum users, full interoperability with other parachains, EVM chains, and Bitcoin is yet to be deployed on the public testnet, the Kusama network.

How Does SORA Card Work?

As a part of the Polkadot ecosystem of ecosystems, SORA Card connects to self-custodial solutions, SORA, or Fearless Wallet. Without any intermediaries, these wallets unlock Polkadot access to manage funds.

This means that only you have access to your digital treasure via standard private keys associated with your wallet address. This is in stark contrast to exchanges like Coinbase or Binance, which are custodial accounts, wherein they can remove your blockchain access arbitrarily. Or, they may crash like FTX, and all your money is gone.

Accordingly, SORA Card allows users to directly exchange assets because it directly taps into Polkadot’s ecosystem of dApps. One such dApp is Polkaswap.io, offering dozens of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, in addition to staking.

At this point, you may be wondering, how exactly is SORA Card funded?

Typically, DeFi dApps rely on intermediary fiat-to-crypto solutions such as MoonPay. Then, you would have to pay a fee to have your ETH converted and then bridge the ETH from a MetaMask wallet to your SORA wallet, paying even more fees.

Only then would your funds be available in the SORA wallet. Needless to say, this is not a welcoming DeFi experience.

To circumvent this problem, SORA Card segregates TradFi and DeFi wallets. What this means is that you register an IBAN account, with its obligatory know-your-customer (KYC) procedure. Nevertheless, the IBAN provider holds no data on your crypto wallet transactions, nor does SORA network store your personal info.

So, you retain financial freedom in a self-custodial and decentralized manner. But, when you need to make fiat-to-crypto conversions, such as EUR to XOR, SORA Card connects to a centralized exchange.

With this combo and simultaneous segregation, SORA Card provides the best of both worlds — convenience and financial freedom — as it skips the bothersome and costly MoonPay/bridge hurdles.

SORA’s Meta-Economy

As the ultimate fiat-to-crypto bridge, SORA Card opens up new horizons. Thanks to Polkadot’s architecture of bridges and parachains, users will be able to tap into an economic metaverse: Ethereum, EVM-chains, BNB Smart Chain, Energy Web, OKX Chain, Avalanche, Fantom, Klaytn, and others.

As for the old king Bitcoin, the bridge is in the works. Likewise, SORA card aims to support 20 fiat currencies, in addition to the big three: USD, EUR and GBP. With Mastercard’s link to the TradiFi world, SORA Card users can expect the ultimate all-in-one finance:

• DEX swaps and other DeFi ventures
• Domestic and international cash withdrawals
• SEPA transactions
• Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Online Payments
• Topping the card with third-party debit/credit cards
• Access to over 90M global merchants

To stay on top of SORA Card launch, check out the official SORA account on X.

Download SORA Card Now!

• App Store
• Google Play

Series Disclaimer:

This series article is intended for general guidance and information purposes only for beginners participating in cryptocurrencies and DeFi. The contents of this article are not to be construed as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult with your advisors for all legal, business, investment, and tax implications and advice. The Defiant is not responsible for any lost funds. Please use your best judgment and practice due diligence before interacting with smart contracts.