Bitcoin Forum

Are there any BTC debit card options with NFC or QR code capabilities that allow you to transfer directly from a mobile wallet to debit card? Are debit cards able to have a wallet in them even? Or do BTC debit cards convert BTC to USD?

I used 2 Bitcoin debit cards until now.

One of them had a linked Bitcoin wallet. You sent whenever you wanted Bitcoin to that wallet and it remained there as Bitcoin. The card, however, worked with USD. If you want to pay at shop, you pay with USD. So when you want to, you top up the card with USD you get by exchanging some of the Bitcoins you have in the linked wallet. This way you make sure you have money to pay with.

The second was working directly with USD. It had 2 USD wallets, one "main" and one "card" (I'm not sure why this complicated). When I wanted to send, I had to send to a certain address (generated at the moment I triggered the top up) a certain amount of Bitcoin within a certain time (10-20 minutes I think). And then the top up of the "card" was done from "main".

Right now, from the two examples, only the first one is again back in business and it's Wirex. I don't say they're best, I don't say they're very bad either. If you are in Europe, you can get at least virtual card. If you are in UK maybe even plastic already. With NFC too.

The BTC wallets and conversions take place via the card provider's website or app. There's no such thing as directly tapping the card and magically loading it. You'll probably need to verify with the provider and then you nominate amounts and they have to feed you the address to load.

If you're in the US you can get Bitpay and Coinbase Shift debit cards.

Outside the US debit card options are pretty thin on the ground. The biggest card provider disappeared at the start of the year and there aren't many other options at the moment. There are a few in the EU like Mister Tango or something, but worldwide availability is not great.