Correct. Also the conversion from BTC to fiat costs him a pretty penny because Crypto(.)com only let you do such conversions inside their app and not on their exchange.
The spread for in-app card top-ups is horrendous, or was the last time I used it about a year ago. That, and the crappy VISA exchange rates make the fancy metal composite card a paperweight.
At no time in the process he describes does the Bitcoin network ever get used, it's all off-chain and registered only in CdC's database. The merchant has no idea that crypto is involved unless they feel the weight of the card and start asking questions.
Now if he said that he used the Lightning Network to pay the merchant I'd be more impressed but even then you're using a third-party and not directly interacting with the BTC network.
And don't get me started on the fact that you can't get a fancy metal card if you're living in Thailand so one would have to lie to Crypto(.)com about one's place of residence to get one (and buy and stake a considerable amount of CRO to get all the alleged perks).
We can't abide that sort of fraud now can we? What's next, using an agent to get one's "Retirement Visa"? ????