Bitcoin Forum

https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-card-is-now-available-in-europe-12798388060c

Six EU nations all in all. But we all know what's the deal here, KYC/AML. So let's see haven't check the iOS or Android app, so I don't know what are the ratings are. Maybe someone in Europe here can check it out, https://www.coinbase.com/card. ;D

Well, it's still not available in my country. But even when their card will be available, I'm not going to order it. As we discussed in past, Coinbase are greedy bastards and it's expensive to use their card:
When other cards are paying cashback when you use it, Coinbase are charging you 2.49% fee when you're using their card. I don't see any reason to use their card.

Yes, fees are quiet can't handle by average joes but using Coinbase debit cards might be one of the good payment alternatives from people in the EU. Their BTC fundings on Coinbase can be used directly. Good for urgent purposes.

Different people have different preferences. Might not be good to you but maybe a good advantage to others.

If ever our country will be accepted I want to have one but not for regular use but as additional payment option just in case (will read the terms first).

I really preferred using Coinsbank but they stopped issuing cards now so didn't get a chance to test the waters there.

Seems like the rise of bitcoin debit cards is already coming in for the second time. I'd love to know some specifics, mainly fee structure, how much is a physical card as there doesn't seem to be anything on the site regarding the said information. Anyways, it's a good thing to have seeing that we literally have very little places to spend bitcoins directly, and resorting to debit cards is the closest thing one can get in experiencing how it feels like spending bitcoins on real-world things.

I'd love to get one when I visit Canada later this year.

You can find it all by going to https://www.coinbase.com/card and clicking on FAQs up in the top right, although LTU_btc has already quoted a posted I made a few months ago containing the fee structure. Looks like that page has been updated since to include euros on top of pound sterling, although the absolute values are the same - 4.95 GBP/EUR for a physical card, and frankly ridiculous fees on any transactions or cash withdrawals.

Anyone thinking about using one of these cards would also do well to pay close attention to this page: https://www.coinbase.com/legal/privacy. Importantly, they will collect everything from your photographs and passport number, through to your tax details and employment history, even your physical geolocation, and these data will be shared with various third parties, for everything from tax compliance to corporate mergers. There's an awful lot of personal information being shared with an awful lot of unknown entities.

I'll be continuing to avoid Coinbase like the plague.

The card is also not available from my end, if it were available then I'd have not touched it and I will always maintain a distance from it. Even I'm desperately looking for a Crypto Card.

The first reason is Fee, the second reason is quoted below, and the third reason is I heard that Coinbase shares user's personal docs with CIA/other agencies... not 100% sure tho.

It's going to be interesting to see which major crypto exchange/wallet service first comes out to push their cards outside of the EU and US.

I understand that the regulations elsewhere in the world regarding these cards are going to be more unclear and potentially tighter, but there is also a much bigger market to be served. Wirex used to be one of the services that offered this, before they were forced to stop offering anonymous cards due to Wavecrest issues.

I echo LTU_btc's sentiments regarding Coinbase, though. Their PR over the past few years haven't been close to good by any standards. I think a lot of people are going to be discouraged to use these cards not only because of their absurd fees, but also the track record that Coinbase has with their relatively unresponsive support mechanism, as well as constant account suspensions.

The only rival is Wirex and by the time you factor in their monthly fee, the very sizeable spread and the top up fee they probably cost about the same to use or might even be slightly cheaper. I've had the UK version of this for a bit. Its app got off to a very shaky start but it seems solid enough now.

The worst thing is that they might keep the perks granted to them by Visa to themselves, which means that they scoop up the fees plus whatever the perks are that Visa grants them.

I have never been a fan of these debit cards because they don't offer much of an advantage over my own that I can use pretty much anywhere within Europe already, and that for free. People complain about banks being suckers, but they do offer quite a useful service, while financial institutions such as Visa and MasterCard are known to suck you dry by charging ridiculous fees.

This Coinbase card will have to appeal to a very small pool of potentially interested users. I wonder how long they will keep it up with low demand.

I've never had a debit card that had any perks. It's only credit cards that do that in my experience.

There are plenty of people paranoid about keeping their banking separate from their crypto fun including me. UK banks do not have a good track record of being jolly about your crypto use. I'm happy to swallow a small premium to erase that doubt.

Agreed. But I have a regularly payment which pays off my credit card in full each month, and I get rewards equivalent to 3% of my spending. Why would I accept a swing of 6% (loss of my rewards plus paying these ridiculous fees) to use a crypto card when I don't have to?

Understandable, but surely there are less expensive ways to spend your crypto? There are plenty of sites in various countries which offer gift cards at pretty much cost price. Or sell P2P - your bank can't link a cash deposit or personal account transfer to crypto.

Gift cards are a good call but the choice is limited. It would be far higher in the US, or has been in the past. But places like Bitrefill put their own premium on gift cards too.

P2P is what the banks hate most of all and that's the number one reason for account closure. All the same the people who cry about it were probably doing thousands of trades a year.

It's all of 2.49% to avoid bank hassle or creepy buyers. That's fine with me.

Fair enough. What's their interface like in terms of keeping a history of all your purchases? I'm thinking in terms of paying taxes. Is it easy enough to extract the details of every single purchase, including price paid in both fiat and BTC?

Right. I mixed things up there. :D

I have my main bank account linked to my Bitstamp account. I only had a problem back in 2013 where my bank prevented me from sending money to Bitstamp, but they lifted that limitation shortly after me having complained about their unethical behavior. After that they haven't bothered me again.

UK has always been tricky with banks such as Barclays and Llyods acting like jerks.

While EU is going hard on all the mixers and other Crypto related services, they seem very okay with Coinbase since it's backed by the FBI. It ensures smooth functioning of the service as every user and their payments are tracked which leaves no chance for anonymity or decentralization. Going Good my Young Padawan, keep buying those anti-crypto debit cards.

There is a difference between mixers that anybody can freely use and Coinbase as most regulated exchange in the space, so obviously, they will not make a problem out of Coinbase offering these services in Europe.

I'm personally not a fan of these crypto related debit cards but if there are people who do think it's of use to them, then they are free to use it. I just hope that they understand what they expose themselves to.

It's one thing to use your bank's debit card, but using one related to crypto makes things more risky than necessary. Who doesn't like being three-way spied on?  :D