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Coinbase Launches First US-issued Bitcoin Debit Card

November 24, 2024         By: Michael Cheng

Coinbase, a leading bitcoin wallet service, announced the release of the first-ever bitcoin debit card. Called the Shift Card, the payment option is powered by Visa and enables the company’s customers to perform transactions in over 38 million stores worldwide.

“Merchant adoption has come a long way over the past few years, but it’s still difficult for people to make regular purchases with bitcoin. Buying gas at a local gas station or groceries at a neighborhood grocery store with bitcoin has not been possible in most cities in the U.S.,” wrote Coindesk in a recent blog post.

“Thanks to Shift Payments, it’s now possible to use bitcoin to buy gas, groceries and much more. With the Shift Card, you can now spend bitcoin anywhere in the world that Visa is accepted.”

For now, the card is only available in 24 eligble states. Individuals who are interested in signing up will first need to open a Coinbase account and connect it to the service. There is no annual or domestic transaction fee associated with the card. However, domestic ATM transactions will incur a $2.50 fee. International transactions are subject to a three percent service charge.

After signing on, users must order the card through the respective site. An issuance fee of $10 is also required, which is paid for in bitcoin. The daily spending limit for the card starts at $1,000, with the possibility of increase.

Despite opposing views from financial institutions and leaders, CEO and founder of Coinbase Brian Armstrong believes that bitcoin is here to stay.

“Volatility is a self-correcting problem, and we’ve seen that as it’s dropped in the last three years, year on year,” said Armstrong in an interview late last year. “I foresee it continuing to do that over the next few years.”