'Aint nothin new' is a great song by Jadakiss ft Nipsey Hussle and NE-YO and it is also what I thought when I got a spammy-looking email from Binance.

Effective 20 December 2023, ie tomorrow, Binance is terminating card support for EU users.

And when I say Binance, I mean Contis.

Contis is a card issuer that alternative finance companies such as Binance turn to when they want to issue a card to their users.

These companies are unreliable for two reasons. First, VISA and MasterCard don't like them very much and second, they often get in trouble, which is why VISA and MasterCard don't like them, I guess.

The first-ever crypto card I used was issued by Wirex. It was 2017. Between 2017 and 2019 I had to request a new card probably like four or five times and it was always for the same reason.

Wirex, ie the crypto exchange, couldn't find a reliable card issuer. Once, I still remember where I was and what I was doing, I got an email similar to the one I just got from Binance.

It said the card would be terminated immediately. I panicked because nearly all of my money was in crypto at the time, and I was using the crypto-funded card for every purchase.

I ended up flying to Girona, Spain just because at the time, that's where the nearest available Bitcoin ATM was (believe it or not). And RyanAir + hotel ended up costing less than the Bitcoin ATM fee (believe it or not). Different times, right?

The point is, these things happen. The good news is I've got like 5 crypto cards now and if the Binance one is terminated there's no skin off my nose. I just move the funds around and use a different one.

And if you don't, you should.

If there's one thing we've learnt, or we should've learnt, from the FTX disaster is this:

A, don't keep all your funds in crypto exchanges

and B, make sure you choose your CEXs carefully

and C, once you've chosen them, spread your funds across different ones.