VirWox used to be my gateway into crypto world for a long time. I know, their prices aren't the best and their fees are high but PayPal deposit/withdrawal option was very handy for people like me who have some funds available in PayPal.
But sometime around last Christmas time I have noticed that the option of deposit fiat through PayPal stopped working. I asked them why and here's the response they gave me:
I am sorry, but we are currently experiencing technical issues regarding PayPal deposits and withdrawals. PayPal is aware of it, but because of the holidays it will take until Dec. 27th (at least) until it is resolved. If it's urgent, I suggest you try other means of payment instead. Sorry for the inconvenience, VirWoX Support
Although for me it wasn't urgent but it was annoying. Now it's January 10th and the problem is still unresolved. I can only imagine how much business they are losing.
In the past I also have used Wirex virtual Visa card which could be linked with PayPal to purchase BTC (Wirex is based in London, UK). After I have changed my phone I stopped using it but because of VirWox I wanted to check it out again. Unfortunately, my 2FA settings wouldn't allow me to sign in from the new phone as apparently I haven't backed up the old option. I asked Wirex support to disable my 2FA settings and after a few emails and additional verification they did it for me.
So today I logged in into Wirex, but saw that virtual cards are no longer available. Therefore, I linked my other card and was able to purchase some LTC which I sent to Binance, converted to BTC, then to STEEM and sent it back to my account.
I know, this is a long road, but the prices were much better than what I used to get with VirWox. If this path works in the future, I might use it again.
But VirWox used to have the option also to deposit fiat to PayPal. Which meant that not only one was able to deposit fiat from PayPal and buy BTC on their platform but it would work the other way around with PayPal withdrawals.
This way people could cash out their crypto holdings to PayPal. Since this option no longer works (and who knows if it will be available in the future), I might use Wirex plastic card. They have BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP and WAVES plastic cards available (My affiliate link is here, https://wirexapp.com/r/a8ybik8tsc but feel free to go to their homepage directly, if you prefer: https://wirexapp.com)
This means at least in theory I could use my Steem earnings to be converted to any of these cryptos and use Wirex plastic card in ATM's to cash out or transact for purchases online or locally.
I also wrote to Wirex customer service representative that Steem's active community would gladly use Steem plastic cards, if those were available. Here's what he wrote:
We will create a feature request in accordance with your request to add Steem. It will be reviewed during the next roadmap planning. Unfortunately, currently, I cannot provide eta on its implementation.
I don't know about you but this sounds promising to me. Could we as a community get behind this idea and let them know that Steem plastic cards would be welcome?
If you agree, please help spread the word and write to them using any way that works for you:
https://wirexapp.com/contact
https://www.facebook.com/wirexapp/
https://twitter.com/wirexapp
https://medium.com/wirex
https://t.me/wirexchat
https://www.instagram.com/wirexapp/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAI8wK4Z9vxYM08lp3C7d_A
https://www.linkedin.com/company/wirex-limited
The more interest from the Steem community they see, the more likely they will implement this feature sooner rather than later.