Kast + Solana: Review as a user in the USA - Is it time to get a KAST card?
If you have been around Solana for a while, you've probably seen some KOL's shilling the KAST (@KASTcard) over the pats few months. With it recently opening up for US users, I wanted to check it out, share my experience and opinion on if you should sign up for a card.
If you just want the TLDR: If you are looking to farm a known upcoming drop and want to spend stables, go for it. If you aren't a points/farming hawk, I'd maybe hold off a bit.
First, I'll talk about the onboarding process.
I downloaded it on my iPhone from the Apple store and created an account.
Next came your typical KYC onboarding and verification. Nothing surprising here and similar to KYC for an exchange. The confusing part is what happened next.
I never got an email from KAST, any push notifications or in app notifications that my ID doc and Selfie had been accepted, so I waited about a week while I tried to give it time. I thought maybe with it opening recently to the USA, they may be backlogged. After waiting a week, I thought maybe it didn't go through and decided I'd run through it again, but really I'd been approved and needed to do Step 2 of verification. All of this looked very similar. I clicked on the KAST card tab to re-do it all, but instead it was the next step to fill in my address and other information.
This is a huge pain point and I'd assume a drop off spot for new users who may get confused and move on. A simple push notification or in app note, pop up or anything saying to continue onboarding would have been extremely helpful.
Now I had my Solana card (I picked the "free one") and was ready to fund my account. This gives a Solana address and it's just like sending USDC or another stable to a wallet. You need to pre-load your card like a debit account card would need to pull from existing funds in an account.
KAST has been openly sharing their points program and it's very upfront about the TGE (https://www.kast.xyz/airdrop). Make no mistake, this is a farming opportunity.
Reasons to get the KAST card now
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Kast is clearly running a points program, so its a farm that is way out in the open
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The rewards are pretty good, even for the "free" card ($20 fee per yr after 1st year). 2-6%
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You can stake with their validator for a boost. It looks like it's only vanilla staking and no LST yet
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It's a nice entry way into spending your stables in real life with apple pay or a physical card
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They announced at Solana Crossroad that they are launching their own dex, focusing on stable coin swaps, with 0% stable swaps
Reasons to wait or not get a card
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Points are in a future KAST token, so you are putting all your eggs into that basket that the token has some value. Recent TGE's for utility tokens haven't performed very well
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There are other simple options like the Coinbase Debit card that offer rewards in BTC/ETH/USDC or XLM(?). the rewards are very small at 0.5%, but your spending can get you actual bitcoin as a reward and not a speculative future token
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At least for US users, you can't link a bank account as of yet. I assume this has to do with regulatory hurdles that may change when STABLE or GENIUS pass. For now, it's not letting you really move towards going bankless.
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A lot of players are entering this space. Solflare (@solflare) recently mentioned they are doing a card and I believe Fuse (@fusewallet) has mentioned one as well in the future. As a side note, FUSE (@fusewallet) wallet is the closest currently to bridging the gap by allowing a virtual bank account via a fin tech with seamless transfers from fiat to stables and back again. But, changing banks is a major pain in the butt.
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If you are someone getting a Seeker phone, I'm guessing the Solflare card will be working with your wallet on the phone, so if you plan to really use your Seeker as a daily driver, it could make things a bit easier.
In conclusion
I got a card because I like to support new projects on Solana who are trying to cross the gaps of off chain and onchain in the real world. I sent some funds over and will continue using it for some daily smaller purchases I do to replace another CC I currently use. I believe it's worth supporting companies trying to move things forward and the risk/reward leans in your favor right now and could pay off with the airdrop.