Crypto Frontline

The latest news shows that a partnership between the Coinbase exchange and big payment giant Visa will give birth to the first cryptocurrency card. It seems like the card will enable customers to use cryptocurrency when making purchases, avoiding the whole process of converting crypto to fiat and then withdrawal to personal bank account, which usually takes up to 24 hours or more.

Visa finally gets into the industry

In October last year, we’ve seen the Visa CEO Al Kelly giving a balanced speech about cryptocurrencies on CNBC. It looks like the most reliable cryptocurrency exchange in the world – Coinbase, had managed to convince the company and now both will work jointly for the first cryptocurrency card which will allow purchases in BTC, ETH, XRP, and LTC, as Computer World recently stated.

Zeeshan Feroze, CEO of Coinbase UK, gave a few exciting comments about the latest news:

Customers can use their card in millions of locations around the world, making payments through contactless chip and PIN. When customers use their Coinbase Card, we instantly convert crypto to fiat currency.

Visa had also talked about the issue, saying that the card “will allow cardholders to spend crypto as effortlessly as the money in the bank”. The problem related to cryptocurrency volatility seems to be solved in this case, given that Coinbase will convert tokens to fiat through a backend system each time a client wants to make a purchase.

Cryptocurrencies reacting positively

Whether it is unclear the reaction comes on the back of the news, Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and Litecoin are all up for the past 24 hours according to coinmarketcap.com. The cryptocurrency market cap is back above $180 billion and the news coming from Coinbase could spark further positive momentum since the new Visa card will greatly facilitate payments with cryptocurrencies.

Coinbase is widely-known for its obsession with regulation and it managed to build a solid reputation because of that. There’s no surprise it is the first crypto exchange to make such a big step forward.

This could mark the beginning of a new trend in using cryptocurrencies as a global scale if other exchange platforms will follow through in the same direction. Coinbase does not allow clients from any country to open an account, so there’s a need to a greater implication from other big players. In the long run, it will encourage the use of cryptocurrencies and give confidence to people already owning them to HODL.