Revolutionary Banking Challenge: Baanx COO Takes On Tradition

In the rapidly evolving fintech landscape, few executives are challenging the foundations of banking as boldly as Simon Jones, COO of Baanx. With the launch of the new MetaMask Metal Card at ETHDenver, Jones isn’t just introducing another payment product—he’s directly questioning why traditional banking structures even exist in their current form, according to The Street.

“A checking account and a savings account? Why do they even exist separately?” Jones asks provocatively. “Historically, banks needed to control cash flow, so they created savings accounts to keep money locked up. That made sense in a world where everything was physical. But in today’s digital economy, it’s an arbitrary division that just benefits the banks.”

This challenging perspective comes from an executive whose background spans traditional finance, venture capital, and social media—giving him unique insight into both legacy systems and emerging technologies. Now at Baanx, Jones is leveraging that experience to bridge the gap between traditional finance and blockchain technology in ways that redefine the consumer banking experience.

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From Banking Insider to Crypto Revolutionary

Jones didn’t start as a crypto advocate. His career began in traditional banking, followed by years in venture capital where he invested in early-stage fintech startups. This background gave him an intimate understanding of the payments infrastructure and its inefficiencies—knowledge he’s now using to disrupt the very industry he came from.

“I’ve always been a crypto maxi at heart,” he reveals. “The financial system we use today is full of legacy structures that exist simply because no one ever questioned them. Traditional banks hold onto outdated processes because it benefits them, not the customer.”

What started as an advisory role with Baanx founder Garth Howat quickly evolved into a full-time position leading external partnerships and strategy. Now, Jones is driving the company’s ambitious vision to reimagine how people interact with money in the digital age.

MetaMask Metal: Challenging Banking’s Core Assumptions

The newly launched MetaMask Metal Card embodies Jones’ revolutionary approach. Unlike traditional crypto cards that require users to pre-load funds onto centralized platforms, the MetaMask card allows direct spending from self-custody wallets, leveraging Ethereum’s ERC-4337 account abstraction capabilities.

“This is a truly unique product,” explains Jones. “It’s the first of its kind—direct spend from self-custody, with no preloading, no shadow banking. Your funds stay yours until you spend them.”

This innovation directly challenges the traditional banking model where financial institutions maintain control over customers’ funds. By keeping assets in self-custody until the moment of spending, users maintain sovereignty over their money—a fundamental shift in the relationship between individuals and financial services.

The MetaMask card, which takes 47 minutes to laser etch and weighs 18 grams, also offers competitive perks: 1% cashback in USDC for standard users and 3% cashback (up to $10,000) for metal cardholders. At launch, it supports USDT, USDC, and wrapped ETH, with plans to expand to additional assets.

For users, this means the ability to use crypto assets for everyday purchases without the additional steps of converting to fiat or moving funds between platforms. The merchant covers the cost of processing, following the traditional payment card model that consumers are already familiar with.

Redefining What Counts as Money

Perhaps most radical is Jones’ philosophy around what constitutes money itself. “If you can price it, you should be able to spend it,” he asserts. “That applies to crypto, air miles, whatever. Why should banks decide what counts as money?”

This perspective fundamentally challenges the banking industry’s traditional role as gatekeepers of financial transactions. By enabling direct spending of digital assets, Baanx is democratizing the definition of currency and giving users more control over their financial lives.

This approach aligns with the broader vision of Web3, which seeks to create a more decentralized, user-controlled internet ecosystem. The MetaMask wallet itself embodies these principles through its self-custody model, which CoinMarketCap identifies as a central aspect of its security framework.

The Next Frontier of Financial Disruption

Jones sees the MetaMask partnership as just the beginning of a larger transformation in financial services. “We’ve already seen tech disrupt retail and advertising—Amazon, Google, Meta. The next frontier is finance. The traditional system extracts billions from the economy every year. It’s time for tech to take that back.”

Baanx is aggressively expanding, with plans to support more chains, more assets, and even foreign exchange services that allow users to seamlessly swap between fiat and crypto. “In the next year, you’ll see this model roll out across multiple wallets. We work with seven of the top ten wallets globally,” Jones reveals.

While Baanx has established partnerships with other Web3 brands like Ledger and 1inch, the MetaMask collaboration significantly expands their reach due to MetaMask’s massive user base of over 30 million people worldwide.

For the traditional banking industry, this represents a direct challenge to their business model and raises important questions about their future relevance in an increasingly digital, decentralized financial ecosystem. As Jones and Baanx continue to innovate at the intersection of traditional finance and blockchain technology, the banking landscape may be transformed in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

“If you can price it, you can sell it,” Jones repeats. “And if you can sell it, you should be able to spend it. That’s the future of payments.” And with Baanx leading the charge, that future appears to be approaching rapidly.

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