- Coinbase has launched a crypto debit card in the UK
- Users can make payments with bitcoin, ether, and litecoin
- Each card will cost roughly five pounds
US-based exchange Coinbase has launched a cryptocurrency debit card in the UK to enable its customers to pay in store and online with digital currencies such as bitcoin, ether, and litecoin, reports CNBC, April 11, 2019.
Coinbase Expands in the UK
The adoption of cryptocurrencies the world over is taking a slow and steady route. The popular blockchain-based travel app Travala recently integrated cryptocurrencies such as NANO and TRON to its platform which enables customers to pay for more than 550,000 hotels with digital money.
Now, in a bid to promote the use of cryptocurrencies among the common populace, Coinbase has unveiled a debit card that would allow its customers in the UK to pay for a whole host of services and goods in virtual currencies like bitcoin, ether, and litecoin.
Called the Coinbase Card, the debit card is basically a contactless Visa debit card that automatically syncs with a user’s Coinbase account. Coinbase UK CEO, Zeeshan Feroz, told CNBC that the card will be accepted by any retailer around the world that accepts Coinbase UK. Feroz added that the card will give its users the ability to spend and invest digital currencies from one single platform.
He said:
“There’s a real advantage in actually being able to deposit crypto and interact with crypto because the crypto ecosystem is so much more than the investment aspect.”
However, it’s worth pointing out that the actual payment will not be made in cryptocurrencies.
The modus operandi would be such that Coinbase will charge a transaction fee of about 2.5 percent to convert fiat currency, such as the British Pound into cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether or litecoin.
Users will have the option to choose the crypto wallet they’d like to use for the payment through a new Coinbase Card app. Later, the same amount of digital currency would be deducted from the user’s Coinbase account. Feroz added that the company has tried to keep the transaction fee as competitive as possible.
The company also added that it has already secured the e-money license in the UK to facilitate cryptocurrency payments.