Over the past 6 months or so, an interesting trend has emerged in the world of BItcoin and cryptocurrency. Several companies are currently working on providing the digital currency community with debit cards, which can in turn be loaded and reloaded with Bitcoin. If these efforts would prove to be successful, it would be a big step for bringing Bitcoin to the masses, as you would be able to spend cryptocurrency in any store accepting debit card payments.
Bitcoin Debit Cards
The concept of Bitcoin debit cards is nothing new these days, even though the number of companies working on this type of project is still fairly low. In fact, as far as we are aware, there are only a handful of companies out there: Xapo, BitPlastic, Coinkite (albeit limited) and AnxBTC. The latter on this list is trying to take things even one step further, by allowing their debit card to be reloaded with both Bitcoin and StartCOIN.
Note from the author : We will be looking at the other companies as well, and see which debit card might suit you best. Stay tuned for those articles, which will appear over the next few weeks.
A tweet sent out by Max Keiser earlier today piqued my interest, which is what brought me to writing this article. In this tweet, Mr. Keiser was trying to raise awareness for the ANX Debit Card which will support both Bitcoin and StartCOIN. It is the first time we see any of these debit card manufacturers venturing out into accepting currencies other than Bitcoin.
ANX Debit Card : Bitcoin & StartCOIN
A cryptocurrency debit card supporting two different coins might not sound like a major deal, but that is not all there is to this offer. Every StartCOIN ANX Debit Card will come preloaded with 12,500 StartCOIN, allowing customers to immediately go into a store and use the card. Furthermore, this move also brings real world usability to Max Keiser’s StartCOIN, so it could be considered a win-win for all parties.
In order to make use of this StartCOIN Debit Card, you will still need to sign up for an account with ANX. However, once you have created and verified your ANX account (assuming you do so before January 31st 2015), you are eligible to receive their Bitcoin Debit Card completely free of charge.
So then the question becomes, why would you get the StartCOIN Debit Card, and not the regular ANX Bitcoin Debit Card? That is a question we can not answer for you, but if you are a StartCOIN holder or enthusiasts, it is worth looking into. From what we can gather, the StartCOIN Debit Card offers no other advantages compared to the regular debit card offered by ANX.
Obtaining A StartCOIN Debit Card
As you would come to expect from anything related to StartCOIN, you will have to pre-order your debit card by pledging to the crowdfunding on the StartJOIN platform. Oddly enough, and this is a bit of a concern to me, the project’s target funding goal is just US$500, which seems incredibly cheap for achieving such a deal with ANX.
Note from the author : We will reach out to ANX and ask them whether or not this number is correct, and why it is so cheap to close a deal with this company.
In order to obtain your very own StartCOIN Debit Card, head on over to the crowdfunding page and pledge US$155. This amount of money will be used to fund the debit card with 12,500 StartCOIN, which are available for immediate spending. Worldwide shipping costs are included in the price, and your StartCOIN Debit Card will be mailed to you through Registered Mail , including a tracking number.
All StartCOIN Debit Cards are expected to be delivered by March of this year, which would be incredibly fast in my opinion. As of this writing, 7 people have made their pledge to this project, and the funding target has been reached already. A total of 500 StartCOIN Debit Cards will be made available, and there are 7 days left before the campaign ends.
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