Litecoin users were quite excited regarding the imminent launch of LitePay. This new service brings LTC to more consumers and retailers, and the associated payment card would have made it easier to spend cryptocurrencies as well. Unfortunately, this new service has been put on hold indefinitely. A lot of people are disillusioned by this turn of events, which is only to be expected.
LITEPAY CARD REGISTRATION PROCESS DELAYED INDEFINITELY
Anyone who has been paying close attention to developments in the financial and cryptocurrency sectors is all too aware of ongoing payment card issues. More specifically, no company issuing payment cards has been too kind to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as of late. That in itself is not exactly surprising, as Visa and MasterCard have made it very clear they want no part of this ecosystem.
This only became more apparent when Visa shut down the WaveCrest service provider altogether. This Gibraltar-based company was forced to close all of their Visa-issued cards linked to cryptocurrency. Moreover, Visa also revoked the company’s partner license, mainly because they offered such services to cryptocurrency companies. Ever since that time, the cryptocurrency debit card sector has been under a lot of pressure, with no reliable offerings remaining as of right now.
Big was everyone’s surprise when LitePay announced it would go ahead with its card launch on February 26. It was supposed to be a very joyous occasion for Litecoin users all over the world, but a lot of dreams were crushed that day. In an email sent out to its followers, the company explained that its card registration process had been delayed indefinitely.
According to the company, the reason for this delay is “hostile actions by card issuers”. This is anything but surprising, as more experienced users saw this problem coming from miles away. Without an official partnership with Visa or MasterCard in place right now – nor one through intermediaries – the chances of issuing a cryptocurrency debit card are slim to none. For LitePay, this might mean it will never be able to provide this service, although it is still too early to tell what the future holds.
Considering that the Litecoin price skyrocketed after the initial launch announcement, it will be interesting to see what happens to the price next. With this service not launching as advertised, there are still too few use cases for Litecoin as of right now, and spending this altcoin in a convenient manner will not be easy. For now, the LitePay team is looking for a different provider to help them out in this regard.
It is worth noting merchants can still register for the LitePay services as previously announced. That will hopefully elevate Litecoin to a whole new level, although it remains to be seen how much initial interest there will be for this particular service. Cryptocurrencies are still not the most popular payment option in the world as of right now. Changing the public’s perception in this regard will be pretty much impossible without convenient solutions.
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