What do you guys think of the new coin base card that has just come out, "Shift"? It uses Visa and seems pretty legit, the only thing I worry about these type of cards are that they seem less secure being that your funds are held on an online wallet.
They have collaborated with Coinbase to issue it in US. You do need to verify your identity and this isn't avalible anywhere[1], they are only allowed to issue it to a few states due to regulatory measures. Otherwise, I find them to be quite reasonable with their fees. Coinbase is quite trusted so there isn't any issues with it.
[1]https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/2228646
So I guess I'm still kind of confused. Once you pay an issuance fee to get the card and preload it, does it automatically convert it to fiat, or just hold bitcoins and then whenever you purchase something it takes the USD amount in Bitcoin out of your coin base wallet? Also is it possible to keep loading your card by just depositing bitcoins in your coinbase wallet of your choice?
If I'm not wrong yes, when you preload your card you will get that movement conversion rate. All these pre-paid cards will not hold bitcoins so when you load your bitcoins to these card the care issuer will convert your bitcoins to fiat currency at loading time. As long as you're coinbase account got bitcoins you can convert those into fiat currency to use.
Ahh, that's a shame. I thought there was a card that does hold the actual bitcoins on your card and when you use it, then it would be converted... I think it might be bit-x?
Anyway, hopefully the asset backed debit system will continue to get better. For one, I personally don't trust coinbase, so I don't think I would even consider getting a card from them. Still though, I'm not in a rush getting a card, just think the concept of backing a debit card with assets is a pretty cool concept.