Ready's USDC card pulls a Houdini on non-EEA users — vanishing in under an hour 🃏

Ready, a self-custodial crypto wallet and payments company, has restricted USDC card functionality for users outside the European Economic Area following a change in its card provider, according to user-shared notices on social media. Multiple users posted screenshots of an in-app message reading: "Your Ready Card will be deactivated within the next hour," citing changes affecting users "primarily outside the EEA."

The short notice window drew sharp criticism. One user posting under the X handle TapSatoshi said in a post that they were frustrated with the company's product roadmap, citing delayed features such as Apple Pay support and prioritization of a "Rewards" section. Other users echoed complaints that they lost card access within hours of receiving the alert. Ready told users in the same message that automatic refunds for any remaining subscription period would be processed within 10 business days. It remains unclear which company will serve as the new card provider for the Ready Card or what prompted the change. The previous issuer-side partner linked to the program was Kulipa, according to publicly available documentation. Cointelegraph contacted Ready for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Formerly known as Argent, Ready is a wallet built for the Starknet ecosystem, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network using zero-knowledge rollups. While the wallet supports multiple crypto assets, including Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ether ($ETH), the Ready Card is primarily built around USDC, which users spend directly from their wallet balance at checkout. According to Ready documentation, the system checks a user's USDC balance in real time when a purchase is made and processes the transaction through Mastercard's payment network, converting crypto into fiat at the point of sale.

The card issuer acts as the bridge between the self-custodial wallet and traditional payment rails, a structure that allows users to retain full control of assets in the wallet while the card provides a spending layer on top. If card access is restricted, users can still hold and transfer USDC onchain without interruption, leaving only the fiat off-ramp temporarily offline for affected regions.