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Author: Mauricio Carrillo
Senior Reporter
Mauricio Carrillo

Coinbase Launches a Card to Link Crypto Account With Fiat World

Digital currency exchange based in San Francisco Coinbase has announced a new VISA-powered debit card for all its users in the United States. The card will offer clients the possibility to buy goods and services in the 'real world.'

After being launched in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe in the last months, Coinbase has moved forward to offer the same card structure for their clients in the United States starting this winter. Though, people can join the waitlist starting today.

The Coinbase Card will be a Visa debit card issued by MetaBank, and it will support payments and purchases in-store and online and ATM cash withdrawals worldwide.

The press release published by the exchange says:

The introduction of Coinbase Card was a significant milestone in our efforts to create mainstream adoption of crypto as a genuine utility, today's announcement is another step forward in the real-world applications of cryptocurrency as it enables more options for Coinbase customers in the US to utilize their holdings. We will continue to build upon our offerings to create the most seamless and useful ways to manage crypto investing and spending for our customers.

A Card to Make Purchases With Your Cryptos

The card is an exciting step taken by Coinbase as it will build a bridge between crypto currencies and the fiat world. All purchases will be deducted from your Coinbase account in cryptos. "The easiest, quickest way to spend your crypto worldwide," according to Coinbase.

Among the differences between the Coinbase Card and other options is the direct link between your fiat payments and your crypto balance. You are virtually paying with digital assets, after the conversion to fiat.

It will be like purchasing with euros a bottle of Somontano wine in a restaurant in Barbastro, Spain, but paying with the dollars inside your account in Charles Schwab. You don't have euros, but you pay it with a conversion of EUR/USD.

While other cards limit conversions to one or a few cryptos or fiats, the Coinbase card supports more than 30 digital assets.

Coinbase Card Comes With Rewards And Fees

Customers in the United States will be able to earn up to 4 percent back in rewards depending on the cryptocurrency. If you are paying with Stellar, you will get 4 percent back, but you will get 1% back in the case of Bitcoin.

The card will have no issuance fee in the United States, but the platform will charge users with 2.49 percent of the transaction in crypto liquidation fees. Fees don't apply to stablecoins such as USDC.

BTC/USD Recovers From Yesterday's Drop

BTC/USD Daily Chart

Bitcoin is trading positively on Thursday as the market is welcoming the news coming from the European Central Bank and the words of its president, Christine Lagarde, about a potential massive injection of money into the economy to be announced in December.

Besides that, the notion that the United States will approve a stimulus package sooner or later after the presidential election tells the market that big economies will be flooded by free cash at the beginning of 2021.

Investors take that as a crypto bullish factor because more money means more purchasing opportunities for crypto assets and lower prices for dollars and euros.

In that framework, the BTC/USD found support at 13,000 early in the day, and it is now trading at 13,455, which is 1.36 percent positive in the day.

The chart looks bullish with the unit setting a floor at 13,000 and momentum recovering strength to attempt for another run beyond yesterday's highs at 13,864. Moving averages are aligned to the upside in the daily chart.

Meet The Author
Mauricio Carrillo
Mauricio Carrillo
Senior Reporter

Mauricio is a newer member of the team and a very welcome addition. He is a financial journalist and trader with over ten years of experience in stocks, Forex, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. This experience means he has an excellent understanding of the markets and current events.

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