Altcoins Talks - Cryptocurrency Forum
Learning & News => News related to Crypto => Articles about Cryptocurrency => Topic started by: Goodcat49 on June 11, 2018, 09:34:08 PM
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Back in 2017, cryptocurrency cards were all the rage. Touted as a solution for the limited cryptocurrency market, they promised a new age of crypto — we just had to wait for it. Well, it’s summer of 2018 now, and we are still waiting. Something has clearly gone wrong.
What Happened to the Crypto Cards
A crypto card is a banking card that you can load up with cryptocurrencies and later spend them at the nearest shop. Or cash them in at the ATM. The idea is that they will automatically convert your crypto into the fiat money, almost erasing the border between the two.
Bonpay actually had a cryptocurrency card at the end of 2017. They were not the only ones, but their solution was one of the most advanced at that point. However, they, as well as almost every other crypto card service, soon got set back almost to the beginning.
In January 2018, WaveCrest — a mediator between all cryptocurrency services and VISA — had their VISA contract terminated. It was coming for awhile — in fact, they repeatedly breached this contract until VISA could not ignore it anymore. And so thousands of cryptocurrency users received emails that their card service is going dark and they should probably withdraw their money until later news. For most of them, this news never came.
The Renaissance of Crypto Cards
After months of silence, most users threw their cards away or kept them as rather unique coasters. No one really expected the cards to make a comeback — especially since card issuers got much more careful with picking their partners.
However, things are getting better. There are new mediators, new projects and even some of the old ones returned to the public eye. Bonpay, for example, plans to issue the first 20 000 cards this summer.
But it’s been awhile, and in this business you always want to keep your ear to the ground. So Bonpay decided to conduct a survey and asked people what card issuer they would prefer for their crypto cards.
Read the details in the article of Coinidol dot com, the world blockchain news outlet: https://coinidol.com/where-have-all-crypto-cards-gone/
(https://coinidol.com/upload/resize_cache/iblock/f21/900_900_1/f21028b81f273807b8ab88ee5b225cb9.jpg)