[2016-10-25] BTCC Previews New Mobile Bitcoin Wallet 'Mobi'

[foserfox]

"Bitcoin as money, that's the killer app."

Bobby Lee, CEO of BTCC, has high hopes for Mobi, the bitcoin exchange startup's new mobile app, released at Money2020 in Las Vegas today. In contrast to other hosted wallets, Lee argues that Mobi succeeds at a difficult balance of being both "bitcoin first" and accessible to a global consumer base.

Rather than enable the wallet to hold US dollars, euros or renminbi, Mobi uses bitcoin to provide users with the experience of cash, enabling them to lock their value into an exchange rate that matches their preferred currency.

Lee told CoinDesk:

"Circle is going a very regulated way, they're doing dollars euros and CNY. But for us, we want to be fighting from the bottom. We want to make a truly global payment platform."

http://www.coindesk.com/btcc-mobile-bitcoin-wallet-mobi-money20202/

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[Hamphser]

"Rather than enable the wallet to hold US dollars, euros or renminbi, Mobi uses bitcoin to provide users with the experience of cash, enabling them to lock their value into an exchange rate that matches their preferred currency.

Lee told CoinDesk:

"Circle is going a very regulated way, they're doing dollars euros and CNY. But for us, we want to be fighting from the bottom. We want to make a truly global payment platform."

For example, when Lee sends £10 to his wallet, he's actually sending around 18,000 bits, the smallest denomination of bitcoin. Also noteworthy is that if he were to send the money to someone else, all he'd have to do is enter their phone number.

This feature, Lee suggests, is perhaps the key attribute of Mobi, which he said would remove the friction sometimes inherent in onboarding new bitcoin users.

"There's no email, no password, no usernames, no two-factor authentication. If you own the phone number, you own the coins for that wallet," Lee continued.

Long-term thinking

Onstage, Lee further argued that users will simply become accustomed to treating the "dollars" and "yuan" in their Mobi accounts as real value given the effectiveness of its hedging system.

Over time, Lee told the audience that by using bitcoin as a payments rail, BTCC will be able to better penetrate a global market than other wallets attempting to straddle both the bitcoin and fiat worlds.

"Telescope, Telegram, Skype, these are all global communication platforms. There’s no truly global platform for money," he continued.

The wallet is now available in public beta."

[1Referee]

I like everything that pushes Bitcoin closer to the average joe to make it more easy to spend and use coins. But you still don't own any of your coins. That's something that is bothering me. You rely on an entity to take care of everything where you can only hope that they do the good with your coins. Great for people looking to make use of it, but for me personally it's something I will avoid. I must at all times (exceptions there for trading) be in full control over every coin that I have.

[AussieHash]

Are there any additional fees to the visa card ?

Given the fee structure I assume it is the same wavecrest card that other services like uquid are using.

Converting the free 1000 mBTC to USD or AUD gives the same 0.7% fee below the bitpay rate. From there the value is presumably kept in the chosen fiat currency like coinapult locks.

The visa card is debited I assume from this USD balance ($2/month) as are the Visa debit transactions.

Are there any additional/loading fees for using the Visa ? These smaller companies charge a "loading" fee, whereas I don't think Xapo does.

Can we cancel the visa card to stop these $2/mo deductions.

Can we order multiple Visa cards ?

What happens if our USD fiat balance is zero, but we have wallet balances in other currencies/BTC ? Will the monthly fee be deducted from our non-USD balance ?

Do you plan to offer other currency Visa cards ?

What documentation is required for verification ?

How do customers withdraw fiat currency ? For example if Alice sends Bob USD$100 via Mobi to his phone number, how will Bob withdraw the USD (if he has no interest in converting to BTC)

[BTCC_Official]

Are there any additional fees to the visa card ?

Hi, here's our fee schedule: https://www.mobi.me/fees.

Can we order multiple Visa cards ?

Only one per customer at the moment.

What happens if our USD fiat balance is zero, but we have wallet balances in other currencies/BTC ? Will the monthly fee be deducted from our non-USD balance ?

Only USD balance is used. If you don't have any more USD, you can't make additional purchases. By the end of the month, we'll have a feature where USD debit card purchases can be made with your bitcoin balance, though.

Do you plan to offer other currency Visa cards ?

Yes, stay tuned.

What documentation is required for verification ?

None, up to $2,500 loaded onto the card. Above that, you need to provide ID and proof of address.

How do customers withdraw fiat currency ? For example if Alice sends Bob USD$100 via Mobi to his phone number, how will Bob withdraw the USD (if he has no interest in converting to BTC)

[AussieHash]

Thanks, so just to confirm,

BTC -> Mobi Wallet BTC = no fee

Mobi Wallet BTC -> Mobi Wallet USD = -0.7% under bitpay approx

Mobi Wallet USD -> Mobi Visa Card = No loading fee ??

Edit : confirmed no additional fees, and currently +0.44% above the bitpay exchange rate
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5lxdi2/bitcoin_just_reached_an_alltime_high_on_btccs_cny/dbzamp2/