Major bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has teamed up with global payments processor Visa to launch the Coinbase Card which allows users to "spend crypto as effortlessly as the money in their bank."
The Visa debit card, which has a £4.95 ($6.50) card issuance fee, can be used to spend Coinbase bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin balances "in millions of locations around the world," by converting the cryptocurrency to fiat when the card is used—the merchant or store gets paid in traditional fiat currency.
Coinbase users can choose which cryptocurrency is used on the card through a new app which supports all crypto assets available to buy and sell on the Coinbase platform. The app also offers instant receipts, transaction summaries, and spending categories, to help people keep track of their spending.
"This is the first debit card to link directly with a major cryptocurrency exchange, allowing people to spend their crypto balances direct from their Coinbase account," Coinbase said in a statement, announcing the launch of the card. "Previously available crypto cards required users to pre-load a specified amount of crypto onto their card, adding a point of friction to the process."
The Coinbase Card is currently only available in the U.K. but the San Francisco-based exchange, which was valued at $8 billion in October, plans to roll out support in other European countries in the "oncoming months." There are no plans yet for support outside of Europe.
While Ripple's XRP isn't currently available to trade for U.K. Coinbase users, others in Europe will be able to spend XRP on the card once the service is rolled out in their country.
Source: Forbes