ambcrypto.com
In what is a huge development in the plan to fuel wider cryptocurrency adoption among regular people, the American cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, announced the launch of “Coinbase Card.” The “Coinbase Card” will allow users in the U.K. to spend cryptocurrencies “as effortlessly as money in the bank.” This huge step forward follows Coinbase’s partnership with major global payments processor, Visa.
The “Coinbase Card” is a Visa debit card powered by customers’ Coinbase crypto wallet balance. With this card, users can pay in-store directly and make purchases. Coinbase converts the crypto to fiat, which is then transferred to the vendors.
According to the blog on Medium, the card is yet to be released to the public and will have an issuance fee of £4.95. Users can download the iOS and Android app to link their Coinbase wallet to the card. The blog further stated,
“This is the first debit card to link directly with a major cryptocurrency exchange in the UK and EU, allowing users to spend their crypto balances direct from their Coinbase account”
Further, the card was issued by issued, authorized and regulated as an electronic money institution, Paysafe Financial Services Limited. Coinbase also revealed that it will be opening up these services to other customers across Europe soon.
Although the transfers aren’t exactly peer-to-peer, the dream of using cryptocurrencies for retail purchases in the real-world is inching a lot closer to reality, following Coinbase’s announcement.