The team at Polybase Labs has unveiled the Payy Visa card, which allows users to spend stablecoins without revealing transaction data on public blockchains.
introducing payy card — spend stablecoins privately 🤫
• undoxxable non-custodial card using ZK for privacy
• physical card with light-up logo (limited quantity)
• easy setup and deposit USDC/crypto
• soon: spend-to-earn points program pic.twitter.com/GeNMwckUmo— Payy (@payy_link) August 6, 2025
This is achieved through zero-knowledge proofs and a proprietary distributed ledger.
Sid Gandhi, co-founder of the project and a former Apple engineer, believes that open access to transaction and balance information renders financial services irresponsible and unethical.
“Either I’m crazy, or everyone else is, because you can’t build a financial system without the fundamental pillar of privacy,” he stated in an interview with CoinDesk, head of Polybase Labs.
Gandhi revealed that the team spent two years building a second-layer payment network from scratch. According to him, developers dismissed EVM-compatible solutions, deeming them unsuitable for private payments.
When using the card, ZK-proofs confirm authorization. The transaction in the Payy network then deducts the amount from the user’s wallet for settlement with Visa.
The developers drew inspiration from networks like Zcash, Monero, and Aztec. Unlike these, Payy was designed from the outset to comply with regulatory requirements such as AML. Gandhi noted that other privacy technologies do not inherently incorporate regulatory compliance.
He also claims that his card offers the simplest registration process and the most user-friendly interface on the market.
“I’ve tried everything. Even my advanced friends, who aren’t into crypto, could never use any of the existing solutions. Our philosophy is that the product should be convenient for everyone,” he said.
The Polybase Labs project has secured funding from Robot Ventures, DBA Crypto, 6th Man Ventures, Orange DAO, Protocol Labs, and others.
“Payy has finally created a true alternative to consumer banking. Now you can store and spend stablecoins privately, without even knowing they’re on the blockchain. And it just works,” said Robot Ventures partner Robert Leshner.
In April, Kraken partnered with the payment system Mastercard to issue physical and digital crypto debit cards.