Wave Crest (issuer of prepaid bitcoin cards) was shut down today

[bitart]

Prepaid bitcoin card holders (issued by WaveCrest, a Gibraltar company) had received a letter today with a short notice that VISA had shut down the bitcoin related prepaid cards. This means that a lot of bitcoin card providers (included XAPO, etc...) are without a card issuer now. Some hours later XAPO also wrote a letter to all XAPO debit card holders that the debit cards are cancelled by VISA, without prior notice. They promised that they will look for a replacement solution to issue cards for them and were asking for a little patience from the XAPO wallet holders. I saw on reddit that people are blaming VISA for the situation, it's like the company is trying to close the connections between bitcoin and fiat, in order to preserve it's position on the market. We will need LN and compatible mobile wallets really  soon.

[Slow death]

there are many people complaining about this situation, I am from a country that was on the list of countries that did not receive a card from them so this situation does not make me sad. Now why visa is doing this... they have profits, so it should not be for lack of profits that they are doing this, Visa is a company that is headquartered in the United States of America and yesterday I read this news " NASAA Warns Investors About Crypto And ICOs, SEC Approves " probably Visa aims to keep away from bitcoin until governments employ clear regulations  about Crypto


 

[player514]

Prepaid bitcoin card holders (issued by WaveCrest, a Gibraltar company) had received a letter today with a short notice that VISA had shut down the bitcoin related prepaid cards. This means that a lot of bitcoin card providers (included XAPO, etc...) are without a card issuer now. Some hours later XAPO also wrote a letter to all XAPO debit card holders that the debit cards are cancelled by VISA, without prior notice. They promised that they will look for a replacement solution to issue cards for them and were asking for a little patience from the XAPO wallet holders. I saw on reddit that people are blaming VISA for the situation, it's like the company is trying to close the connections between bitcoin and fiat, in order to preserve it's position on the market. We will need LN and compatible mobile wallets really  soon.

It seems like Europe is significantly affected by this change.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjpzx5/using-bitcoin-as-money-just-got-a-lot-harder-in-europe

The article states that Bitpay's cards still work in the US. To be quite honest, I think bitcoin is still pretty far from being used well as a currency. There needs to be a lot of changes made to the transaction fees, the length of confirmation times, and the payment system in general. As of now, I think I'd say that a majority of people are using the coin as an investment asset rather than a currency. So for the most part, I think this really affects those who were aiming at using their Bitcoin in real life. They can still go to BTC atms and whatnot.

[audaciousbeing]

Prepaid bitcoin card holders (issued by WaveCrest, a Gibraltar company) had received a letter today with a short notice that VISA had shut down the bitcoin related prepaid cards. This means that a lot of bitcoin card providers (included XAPO, etc...) are without a card issuer now. Some hours later XAPO also wrote a letter to all XAPO debit card holders that the debit cards are cancelled by VISA, without prior notice. They promised that they will look for a replacement solution to issue cards for them and were asking for a little patience from the XAPO wallet holders. I saw on reddit that people are blaming VISA for the situation, it's like the company is trying to close the connections between bitcoin and fiat, in order to preserve it's position on the market. We will need LN and compatible mobile wallets really  soon.

There is nothing about no prior notice about this. The only part of no prior notice is if it relates to EU citizens because aside that, there is enough notice all over and I have read some months back that they will give 3 months notice for every one who is outside the EU to use up his or her funds but not cancelling everything.

If this is affecting the entire crypto community, then its a step backwards and it means the people who are bent on frustrating bitcoin use are leaving no stone unturned and that is why they are really harnessing every opportunity with this being another step in the series of acts that can be done.

It is actually a clarion call as well to developers to start thinking in this direction Visa or MasterCard were created by individuals and there is nothing wrong in creating something like this for the community.

[Mikesol]

Wirex also withdrew all their Visa cards today.

[emuLOAD]

Wirex is just another brand issuing through WaveCrest. each and every customer of WaveCrest is down.

[Mikesol]

Looking around I found the UQUID card which seems to be a suitable replacement

https://uquid.com/account/register/a?u=UQ936161

Not actually a Visa or Mastercard but if you can fund Paypal with it then it is almost as good.

[crazyivan]

Looking around I found the UQUID card which seems to be a suitable replacement

https://uquid.com/account/register/a?u=UQ936161

Not actually a Visa or Mastercard but if you can fund Paypal with it then it is almost as good.

First, you are not allowed to post ref link in the body text, YOU REFF WHORE! Second, take a look at their Twitter and you ll see an army of dissatisfied customers asking for their money. So not only you promote shitty product but also you want to make ref fee by promoting it.

Bravo!

[bitart]

Prepaid bitcoin card holders (issued by WaveCrest, a Gibraltar company) had received a letter today with a short notice that VISA had shut down the bitcoin related prepaid cards. This means that a lot of bitcoin card providers (included XAPO, etc...) are without a card issuer now. Some hours later XAPO also wrote a letter to all XAPO debit card holders that the debit cards are cancelled by VISA, without prior notice. They promised that they will look for a replacement solution to issue cards for them and were asking for a little patience from the XAPO wallet holders. I saw on reddit that people are blaming VISA for the situation, it's like the company is trying to close the connections between bitcoin and fiat, in order to preserve it's position on the market. We will need LN and compatible mobile wallets really  soon.

There is nothing about no prior notice about this. The only part of no prior notice is if it relates to EU citizens because aside that, there is enough notice all over and I have read some months back that they will give 3 months notice for every one who is outside the EU to use up his or her funds but not cancelling everything.

If this is affecting the entire crypto community, then its a step backwards and it means the people who are bent on frustrating bitcoin use are leaving no stone unturned and that is why they are really harnessing every opportunity with this being another step in the series of acts that can be done.

It is actually a clarion call as well to developers to start thinking in this direction Visa or MasterCard were created by individuals and there is nothing wrong in creating something like this for the community.

This was a really surprise (in the negative meaning) for the EU citizens. XAPO has forced all of the debit card holders to verify themselves in December 2017, in order to be able to use the XAPO debit card in the future, because of the KML and AML things. This was only 1 month ago. After this verification process the expectation was to use this debit card in the future for a long time without any more hassle. Despite of this full verification VISA had closed all the cards after 1 month, and not only for the prior notified US citizens but for all of the EU citizens too.

[Empiretoken]

      why is the US government against cryptocurrency?. i presumed this is another scheme to put cryptocurrency under the controllable ambit of the US government and no matter how they try, they will continue to fail.

[pixie85]

I've read that this thing wasn't Bitcoin related. They were in breach of the Visa policy for some time now and I'm sure they were contacted by Visa prior to the ban.
If you want to have high paying deals on this level you just have to comply or the deal is off. It's not like they can't contact Visa and make it right.

[777asianinvasian]

GG I was looking forward to using these cards in 2018...hopefully they make a comeback at some point. Otherwise I gotta cashout my crypto into fiat...sigh

[emuLOAD]

Monaco should be coming sometime this year

[aso118]

Prepaid bitcoin card holders (issued by WaveCrest, a Gibraltar company) had received a letter today with a short notice that VISA had shut down the bitcoin related prepaid cards. This means that a lot of bitcoin card providers (included XAPO, etc...) are without a card issuer now. Some hours later XAPO also wrote a letter to all XAPO debit card holders that the debit cards are cancelled by VISA, without prior notice. They promised that they will look for a replacement solution to issue cards for them and were asking for a little patience from the XAPO wallet holders. I saw on reddit that people are blaming VISA for the situation, it's like the company is trying to close the connections between bitcoin and fiat, in order to preserve it's position on the market. We will need LN and compatible mobile wallets really  soon.

Of course, you cannot expect Visa to sit back and actually encourage its user base to be eaten away. We wouldn't know if Visa's actions were due to a nudge from the government or due to its own interest. We have seen banks close the accounts of bitcoin related companies. Expect more such actions in the coming years as the establishment digs its heels in.

[henke1]

The reasons for Visa electing to wield the banhammer are unclear, though the company has long been regarded as hostile to bitcoin.
Web-users who value their financial freedom have long been been wary of Visa. This is the company, after all, which facilitated the financial blockade of Wikileaks in 2011. That decision ultimately proved to be Wikileaks’ salvation, with Julian Assange later crowing that the switch to bitcoin caused a windfall as the cryptocurrency began to multiply in price.

https://news.bitcoin.com/visa-veto-leaves-several-european-cryptocurrency-cards-locked-out/

Visa bans cryptocurrency-backed cards, leaving thousands in the lurch
Visa, a payment network, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"All the cards were shut down in one second," Lazarichev said

https://www.c[Suspicious link removed]m/2018/01/05/visa-bans-cryptocurrency-backed-cards.html

time to 'ban' Visa also ? 

[squatter]

The reasons for Visa electing to wield the banhammer are unclear, though the company has long been regarded as hostile to bitcoin.
Web-users who value their financial freedom have long been been wary of Visa. This is the company, after all, which facilitated the financial blockade of Wikileaks in 2011. That decision ultimately proved to be Wikileaks’ salvation, with Julian Assange later crowing that the switch to bitcoin caused a windfall as the cryptocurrency began to multiply in price.

https://news.bitcoin.com/visa-veto-leaves-several-european-cryptocurrency-cards-locked-out/

time to 'ban' Visa also ? 

That seems unlikely. VISA and Mastercard (and to a lesser extent, Amex and Discover) are the gatekeepers.

The fundamental problem here is that debit cards funded with cryptocurrency defeats the entire purpose of cryptocurrency. What's the point of "being your own bank" if you need to convert to USD or EUR just to use the gatekeepers' payment networks?

Bitcoin was literally created to displace centralized middlemen like VISA. We don't need alternatives to WaveCrest. We need to stop using these stupid debit cards in the first place. To boot, you need to sacrifice significant privacy to use them.

[henke1]

The reasons for Visa electing to wield the banhammer are unclear, though the company has long been regarded as hostile to bitcoin.
Web-users who value their financial freedom have long been been wary of Visa. This is the company, after all, which facilitated the financial blockade of Wikileaks in 2011. That decision ultimately proved to be Wikileaks’ salvation, with Julian Assange later crowing that the switch to bitcoin caused a windfall as the cryptocurrency began to multiply in price.

https://news.bitcoin.com/visa-veto-leaves-several-european-cryptocurrency-cards-locked-out/

time to 'ban' Visa also ? 

We need to stop using these stupid debit cards in the first place. To boot, you need to sacrifice significant privacy to use them.

what are good 'alternatives' then to those Visa/etc. cards ?

[oviudiu]

Prepaid bitcoin card holders (issued by WaveCrest, a Gibraltar company) had received a letter today with a short notice that VISA had shut down the bitcoin related prepaid cards. This means that a lot of bitcoin card providers (included XAPO, etc...) are without a card issuer now. Some hours later XAPO also wrote a letter to all XAPO debit card holders that the debit cards are cancelled by VISA, without prior notice. They promised that they will look for a replacement solution to issue cards for them and were asking for a little patience from the XAPO wallet holders. I saw on reddit that people are blaming VISA for the situation, it's like the company is trying to close the connections between bitcoin and fiat, in order to preserve it's position on the market. We will need LN and compatible mobile wallets really  soon.

And yet, Bitcoin rises as it never happened. It looks like someone doesn't like that crypto got so popular and is working against it. Too bad, in the long run will lose.

[stompix]

Well, first I must say that I'm sorry for all those that are getting their funds stuck or have any kind of problems.
And I do hope everybody is getting their coins back.

Second , I am soooo happy seeing all those companies that where branding themselves as payment processors and charging enormous fees going bust.
I've always warned you that all the cards are controlled by Visa than with a simple button push you end up with a worthless plastic.
This was just last week:

You're just selling you coins and then paying with fiat.
And you're doing exactly what Bitcoin was supposed to get rid of.
A 3rd party payment processor that is taking a fee.

Oh, and nice thing having your money in a wallet controlled by a bank.
Genius!!!

What's the point of paying with a bitcoin card and not with a normal cc?
Which also has lower fees than the crap centra offers...

Annual Fee:  $50 in CTR*
Bank ATM Withdrawal Fee  $2.50
One-Time Activation Fee: $20.00

ING does this for 0 (zero)

But no...
People still keep BTC in exchnges, still keep BTC in online wallets, still use payment processors....

what are good 'alternatives' then to those Visa/etc. cards ?

It starts with B , it ends with N, it has 7 letters, the first 5 are BITCO the last 5 are TCOIN.

[onleines]

Any cardholder here who has already been offered an alternative / replacement solution by his Debitcard-Bitcoin-Provider (BitPay, Xapo, ..)?