A Bad Omen for Crypto Debit Cards
Hacks here, innovations there, developments here, bans there; there's never a dull moment within the crypto space.
There's enough going on to keep my attention on any given day, but for most people, cryptocurrency is still considered a niche field for hobbyists and no-life Jehovah's Witnesses that spend their time trying to convince everybody of their newfound capitalist religion.
Want some gold? I'm not giving it to anybody else...
So when the concept of cryptocurrency debit cards hit the scene back in 2015, many of us thought that this might be the Holy Grail.
The One Ring that would finally unite the kingdoms and bring cryptocurrency to the normies!
However, this development has proven to be more like the first shot in a hundred-year war. While those who had a Shift, Wirex, or one of the handful of other crypto debit cards enjoyed the convenience of being able to pay bills, buy condoms, etc. with their various cryptocurrencies, the Old World Order's financial gatekeepers were planning on how to stop the revolution before it got going.
Rrrray back!
Fast forward two years and Visa has already made moves to halt crypto debit cards from seeing the light of day outside of Europe.
By coming up with a batch of new rules targeting prospective non-European residents, Mastercard has followed suit today.
According to The Merkle, this move has made it nigh impossible for non-European citizens to register similar cryptocurrency debit cards.
All existing cards belonging to people outside the EEA will remain active for another 90 days. After that time, MasterCard will block said cards automatically. Any remaining funds on one’s card must either be spent or withdrawn through the card issuer before that time.
The impact won't be felt by countries that are already using crypto debit cards from within the European Economic Area. But this news hit me pretty hard as a non-EEA citizen because I was waiting on the debit card from Singapore's startup company, TenX, to be released for the United States. It was expected to happen in Q4 of 2017 so I had my wallets lined up and ready to rock n roll.
Although I have the option of buying into the Shift card, from San Fransisco's own Coinbase, the amount of fees is off-putting. Plus, I'm trying to cut ties from Coinbase as much as possible. Becoming a more advanced user requires me to look for private key alternatives to the more noob-friendly Coinbase wallet.
Sure, Coinbase's fees are relatively low compared to other wallets and exchanges but compared to TenX, who offers 0% spending and exchange fees... well let's just say that this time around, nothing is better than something.
So far I haven't heard anything from TenX or other crypto debit card issuers but I'll be trying to follow these developments as closely as possible, so follow me @villainy if you'd like to see my take on all of this as it unfolds.
I would love to see the Steemit community's opinion on these stories as well so drop a comment below and lets get those upvotes rolling!
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