[2018-03-23]Physical Bitcoin Debit Cards Are Coming Back to Europe

[Vladdirescu87]

Since VISA’s decision to suspend all Bitcoin prepaid debit and virtual cards issued by Wave Crest Holding in the EU, citizens of Europe and many other countries have had no option to use cryptocurrency cards for withdrawals and POS payments. However, two cryptocurrency-related companies are preparing to bring their new physical and virtual cards to the market.

Now, everyone is expecting new opportunities and solutions on the European cryptocurrency payments market. Coinidol.com turned to several Bitcoin virtual and physical cards providers to find out whether we should expect a solution to this problem anytime soon.

Read more: https://coinidol.com/physical-bitcoin-debit-cards-coming-back-to-europe/

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[Coffee135]

This is good news but I don't think it's going to make a big difference to the bitcoin market. I for one have never used bitcoin debit cards. It is not economically viable. If you do the exchange on the exchange and to infer Fiat for a visa or MasterCard is much more economical. The transaction price of bitcoin also makes it impossible to use such cards for purchases.

[richardsNY]

The transaction price of bitcoin also makes it impossible to use such cards for purchases.

Bitcoin debit cards don't require people to pay for network fees because these transactions happen off-chain. It's just you spending the coins that are already available in your digital wallet. What happens in reality is that your coins get converted to fiat at the moment you use your Bitcoin debit card to pay for stuff online or in-store, and that happens within the ecosystem of the service offering this debit card. It basically means that you aren't actually using your Bitcoins to purchase stuff, but still fiat. It's a convenience service after all -- if your main source of income is Bitcoin and not fiat, you can use this debit card to pay in grocery stores and such, and that without having to do the converting to fiat yourself.

[akamit]

I'm not much happy with the news because I was waiting for a debit card provider who will offer to worldwide customers.
After all the drama, all the old names are still limited to the old country list. After a long time waiting they haven't brought anything new to the table.

I hope they have a plan to expand their business to worldwide customers and are working behind.

[Universal pics]

I still desire of a card which can be applyed everywhere, not only in Europe
hope something like this will appear soon

[kevoh]

I still desire of a card which can be applyed everywhere, not only in Europe
hope something like this will appear soon

Until cryptocurrencies are widely accepted globally, we will be stuck with Bitcoin debit cards working in only the countries that have been receptive to the use of cryptocurrency.

[dreamhouse]

This is in direct compete with VISA, if bitcoin can be used like VISA, VISA will die.

[Lucius]

In fact there was a card which allegedly works all the time in EU,it is MasterCard from Mistertango based in Lithuania.I personally have not tried this card,but experiences are mostly positive.

Lately I heard about Revolut based in UK and they offer Visa contactless card.I read some comments that users send EUR from Coinbase/GDAX on this card with extra low fee,and POS payments have 0% fee.

For both cards you need to have compatible OS on your smart phone,because users can control card via app which is great.

I just want to say that such cards do not provide any anonymity,so you need to know that your tax office will probably get the data that you have open account in some other country, and that you convert BTC to fiat.

[prehisto]

Since VISA’s decision to suspend all Bitcoin prepaid debit and virtual cards issued by Wave Crest Holding in the EU, citizens of Europe and many other countries have had no option to use cryptocurrency cards for withdrawals and POS payments. However, two cryptocurrency-related companies are preparing to bring their new physical and virtual cards to the market.

This is not true. Visa banned WaveCrest from their network, thus they had to cancel their clients cards. WaveCrest although was possibly the biggest issuer of crypto supported cards, did not have 100% of this market. There were and is several companies which have working cards. 
(https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/05/some-cryptocurrency-backed-cards-dropped-from-visa-network.html)

The whole article to which OP refers seems very poorly written and most likely just a part of marketing campaign of Wirex.

I'm not much happy with the news because I was waiting for a debit card provider who will offer to worldwide customers.
After all the drama, all the old names are still limited to the old country list. After a long time waiting they haven't brought anything new to the table.

I hope they have a plan to expand their business to worldwide customers and are working behind.

There is a good card which has had surprisingly little spot light in crypto currency space  -CENTRA TECH , whicih is working not only in Eu but alson US and other countries. They support a ton of tokens and I do not know any competitor which is close to them only tons of wanna bees.

In fact there was a card which allegedly works all the time in EU,it is MasterCard from Mistertango based in Lithuania.I personally have not tried this card,but experiences are mostly positive.

Lately I heard about Revolut based in UK and they offer Visa contactless card.I read some comments that users send EUR from Coinbase/GDAX on this card with extra low fee,and POS payments have 0% fee.

For both cards you need to have compatible OS on your smart phone,because users can control card via app which is great.

I just want to say that such cards do not provide any anonymity,so you need to know that your tax office will probably get the data that you have open account in some other country, and that you convert BTC to fiat.

Just got my MrTango few days back, it has a Btc wallet which converts your BTC automatically to Eur with 1% fee or 0,0025 BTC depending on the total. This could be a very fairy good alternative. I do not know if Revolut has any relation to crypto world .


In any case i believe that crypto world should concentrate more to direct crypto terminals than relaying to VISA and MasterCard networks which basically are a direct competitor to block chain tech.

[akamit]

I'm not much happy with the news because I was waiting for a debit card provider who will offer to worldwide customers.
After all the drama, all the old names are still limited to the old country list. After a long time waiting they haven't brought anything new to the table.

I hope they have a plan to expand their business to worldwide customers and are working behind.

There is a good card which has had surprisingly little spot light in crypto currency space  -CENTRA TECH , whicih is working not only in Eu but alson US and other countries. They support a ton of tokens and I do not know any competitor which is close to them only tons of wanna bees.

Thanks for the info. Does Centra Tech have an ann thread in this forum?
It seems expensive to me, at today's price CTR/USD ($0.5/CTR), a normal card price will be $25. However, I'm only interested in the virtual card, and I hope the price isn't $25.

[bct9t]

This is really a breaking news for all who are used to in using bitcoin. Physical debit cards of cryptocurrency will be very popular among people and undoubtedly it will achieve trust of mass people.

[Rustamm]

This is in direct compete with VISA, if bitcoin can be used like VISA, VISA will die.

If VISA does not resume the work of its debit bitcoin cards in the near future, it will lose a big profit. Since the demand for transactions with such cards is huge, this niche in the market will immediately be filled with other campaigns. I think that such debit cards will soon appear not only in Europe, but also in other parts of the world as bitcoin expands and the capacities of their producers increase. This is a very convenient service that does not require transactions in bitcoin, while paying in fiat due to the bitcoins on this card.

[criptogenious]

Undoubtedly good news and it will not affect the bitcoin market eventually. I have never gone for bitcoin debit cards as it is not economically viable. If anyone wants to exchange to infer Fiat for a visa or MasterCard is much more economical.

[Qartersa]

Since VISA’s decision to suspend all Bitcoin prepaid debit and virtual cards issued by Wave Crest Holding in the EU, citizens of Europe and many other countries have had no option to use cryptocurrency cards for withdrawals and POS payments. However, two cryptocurrency-related companies are preparing to bring their new physical and virtual cards to the market.

Now, everyone is expecting new opportunities and solutions on the European cryptocurrency payments market. Coinidol.com turned to several Bitcoin virtual and physical cards providers to find out whether we should expect a solution to this problem anytime soon.

Read more: https://coinidol.com/physical-bitcoin-debit-cards-coming-back-to-europe/

While the attempt at bringing back the game-changer admirable, I do not think bringing new physical and virtual cards to the market is feasible at the moment. Even investors would not use the same because most of them would ONLY want to hold and cash out when they already reached their money goal when converted to USD. This has been the way of life of plenty that I actually lost count, and I am not saying it is negative. I just think that with this fact, I can safely presume that Bitcoin's initial purpose to be a payment system has long vanished because it now has a store of value that investors would want to protect until they can. It is now an asset they cannot just let go of especially when the price is not good.

[zakalwe]

I'm not much happy with the news because I was waiting for a debit card provider who will offer to worldwide customers.
After all the drama, all the old names are still limited to the old country list. After a long time waiting they haven't brought anything new to the table.

I hope they have a plan to expand their business to worldwide customers and are working behind.

There is a good card which has had surprisingly little spot light in crypto currency space  -CENTRA TECH , whicih is working not only in Eu but alson US and other countries. They support a ton of tokens and I do not know any competitor which is close to them only tons of wanna bees.

Thanks for the info. Does Centra Tech have an ann thread in this forum?
It seems expensive to me, at today's price CTR/USD ($0.5/CTR), a normal card price will be $25. However, I'm only interested in the virtual card, and I hope the price isn't $25.

$25 is a small price actually. I remember when I searched for physical card before they were banned by VISA, they costed much more, especially if you wanted large limit like $10,000 or something. Okay, they could decrease price for virtual card, that is true.

[vit05]

 This reliance on Visa and Mastercard is a horrible thing. It is already time for the criptocurrency to disrupt this duopoly. We need to decrease the number of middlemen between who wants to buy and who wants to sell. Credit can possibly be an option offered within a blockchain. We do not need these companies that charge so dearly for services like this and prevent other companies from competing in this industry.

[CryptoBry]

I still desire of a card which can be applied everywhere, not only in Europe hope something like this will appear soon.

I am sure you are not alone wishing to have a single card that can be used everywhere...this can mean more convenience and can even help people to deal with cryptocurrency or what we call as adoption. As long as there can be money to be made in such a product, I really think that sooner or later there will be a provider for such a need. Many of the big providers are still afraid to open up their business with cryptocurrency but this can be changing soon when regulations are already in place.

[Karartma1]

I am personally waiting the day when there will be no more reason for such cards because by using these card we support the old financial world. One day there will be no reason to use such services because we will be paying directly in crypto. And that day is already here.

[Lucius]

In fact there was a card which allegedly works all the time in EU,it is MasterCard from Mistertango based in Lithuania.I personally have not tried this card,but experiences are mostly positive.

Lately I heard about Revolut based in UK and they offer Visa contactless card.I read some comments that users send EUR from Coinbase/GDAX on this card with extra low fee,and POS payments have 0% fee.

For both cards you need to have compatible OS on your smart phone,because users can control card via app which is great.

I just want to say that such cards do not provide any anonymity,so you need to know that your tax office will probably get the data that you have open account in some other country, and that you convert BTC to fiat.

Just got my MrTango few days back, it has a Btc wallet which converts your BTC automatically to Eur with 1% fee or 0,0025 BTC depending on the total. This could be a very fairy good alternative. I do not know if Revolut has any relation to crypto world .


In any case i believe that crypto world should concentrate more to direct crypto terminals than relaying to VISA and MasterCard networks which basically are a direct competitor to block chain tech.

Regarding Revolut,it is actually same thing like MisterTango in a way,every user first need to convert crypto to fiat in order to be able to spend it.I know that MisterTango have minimum deposit fee of 0.0025 BTC so it is not suitable for small and frequently deposits,but in a case of Revolut user can send crypto to Coinbase/GDAX,convert to fiat and send on Revolut.From GDAX to Revolut fee is only 0.15€.

I am personally waiting the day when there will be no more reason for such cards because by using these card we support the old financial world. One day there will be no reason to use such services because we will be paying directly in crypto. And that day is already here.

I agree with you completely,and I think the vast majority of crypto users wait for this day.By using such cards to convert crypto in fiat we actually undermine the whole meaning of cryptocurrency.Fortunately every day we have more and more places where we can pay directly with BTC.

[prehisto]

I'm not much happy with the news because I was waiting for a debit card provider who will offer to worldwide customers.
After all the drama, all the old names are still limited to the old country list. After a long time waiting they haven't brought anything new to the table.

I hope they have a plan to expand their business to worldwide customers and are working behind.

There is a good card which has had surprisingly little spot light in crypto currency space  -CENTRA TECH , whicih is working not only in Eu but alson US and other countries. They support a ton of tokens and I do not know any competitor which is close to them only tons of wanna bees.

Thanks for the info. Does Centra Tech have an ann thread in this forum?
It seems expensive to me, at today's price CTR/USD ($0.5/CTR), a normal card price will be $25. However, I'm only interested in the virtual card, and I hope the price isn't $25.

If i recall correctly the first level Centra Card had a one time cost of 50$ and some much smaller annual fee. But i do not think that it is expensive if we take in account that they are probably the only ones right now with this kind of service . if it is too expensive , there always is the regular way to get your funds to FIAT-> exchange-> FIAT-> load bank account.