181 SHARES Reddit Facebook Twitter Google

Bitcoin debit cards are available now and allow you to conveniently spend your bitcoin online and at brick and mortar stores. Most bitcoin debit cards are pre-paid cards that are loaded by sending bitcoin to the issuer, who exchanges bitcoin for fiat and tops up your card. At this time only the Bit-X and Xapo bitcoin credit cards are directly linked to your Bit-X or Xapo wallet: funds are taken straight from your wallet at the time of a�transaction.

Bitcoin Debit Cards Available Now

The WageCan MasterCard bitcoin debit card issued by Transforex is available world wide including the US. There are no point of sale fees and a reasonable 1% fee is charged for ATM cash withdrawals. Here is a recent review of the WageCan card by a satisfied customer in the US.

The ANX bitcoin debit card is one of the two other cards besides WageCan shipping to US residents. Two cards are currently offered: ANX Plus (red color) and ANX Premium (black color.) The ANX Premium card is a rechargeable MasterCard debit card issued by Sura Global while the ANX Plus is a UnionPay card. The ANX Plus is not as widely accepted as the ANX Premium and the card currency is HK rather than US dollars. The application process for the ANX cards is a pain and some users at BitcoinTalk are reporting they were rejected for no good reason. This is why we rate WageCan higher than ANX. If you applied for an ANX card and were not approved try WageCan instead.

Advanced Cash is a new bitcoin prepaid Mastercard shipping worldwide including to the US (Pakistan excepted.) The cards are issued by Wave Crest in Gibraltar and both virtual and physical cards are available now. Starting 22 May 2015 however AdvCash cards will no longer be shipped to US residents. Cards already in use in the US will continue to work fine and will not be cancelled.

The Bit-X exchange is now shipping a MasterCard bitcoin credit card to all verified customers. See this thread at the Bitcoin Forum for current specifications. They are shipping to the US. On April 4, 2016 BIT-X rebranded as CoinsBank.com.

The Xapo VISA bitcoin debit card is available world wide except for residents of US and India and allows you to spend bitcoin directly from your Xapo wallet.

The E-Coin card is funded from your E-Coin wallet but must be topped up manually unlike the Xapo card. Funding your E-Coin debit card is subject to a 2% fee. Available for all countries except the US.

The OKPay card is another pre-paid MasterCard that must be topped up by tranferring funds from your OKPay wallet. Point of sale transactions are free but ATM withdrawals are subject to a 2% fee.

Neteller is shipping a pre-paid Mastercard debit card that can be funded with bitcoin now, but is not available to US residents. The UK based DSX exchange is now offering a debit card in partnership with ePayments Systems Limited.

Cryptopay is now offering a VISA bitcoin debit card issued by MyChoice. The card ships worldwide except to India, United States and Algeria. You can fund your card using bitcoins, British pounds or Euros from your Cryptopay account. You can order either a Euro or Pound denominated debit card for �15 /�15. Here is a chart of fees for the card:

Coinomat just introduced a bitcoin debit card this July. The card costs 15.99 � with no monthly fees. Card loading is instant and cost to load is the Coinomat exchange rate plus 3 �. ATM withdrawal fee is 2.80 �. The card is issued by a UK bank but no photo is available yet. The card ships to all countries except US.

Bitstamp bitcoin exchange now offers their clients a prepaid bitcoin debit card denominated in USD, Euros or Pounds. Cost is $10. Transferring funds from your Bitstamp account to your card carries flat $10 fee for amounts up to $1000. For transfers above $1000, a 2% fee is charged. Here are the verification and limits for the card:

The Bitstamp bitcoin debit card is provided through Astropay and is available worldwide except to the US.

Shift introduced the first completely US based bitcoin debit card in November 2015. The fees are lowest of any card and you will have no problems using at any US merchant as the debit card is issued by a US bank. The card is funded with bitcoin in your Coinbase account. The only drawback is limited availability as the card is not shipped to all US states yet. In order to spend bitcoin via Coinbase, cardholders must reside in one of the following U.S. states: AL, AZ, CA, CO, DE, DC, FL, ID, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, ME, MO, MS, NE, NV, NJ, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, PR, RI, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, or WV.

BitPay introduced their bitcoin debit card in May 2016 currently shipping to every US state. Cost is $9.95 paid in bitcoin and the application process is quick and simple. A US resident only needs to provide name and address, Social Security and driver’s license number to order. Limits are also higher than the Coinbase Shift card.

Bitcoin Debit Cards in Beta

Bitcoin-Wave is a Seychelles based exchange that is in progress of issuing a bitcoin debit card for the Euro market only. Bitcoin-Wave customers can now pre-order their Bitcoin debit card. The card itself costs �30 and users can spend up to �2,500 without the need of providing any identification documents. Confirmed users can deposit and spend as much as �15,000, and withdraw up to � 620 in cash per day.

The SmartyCash prepaid Visa card allows you to pay wherever Visa is accepted and reload instantly from Ripple with a 5% rebate programme. Not available for US residents.

Fund Your Existing MasterCard or VISA Using Bitcoin

Coinomat is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to fund your present MasterCard or VISA using bitcoin.

At present anyone can open an account, fund their account with bitcoin and then send funds to your own VISA or MasterCard for 3% + $5 fee. All normal VISA and MasterCards can be funded from Coinomat but not virtual or some prepaid cards like VISA Electron or MasterCard Maestro cards.

Recommendations

If you live outside the US any card on our available now list is worth your consideration. The most popular cards at this time are from WageCan, ANX, Advanced Cash, Bit-X and Xapo. For US residents your working choices at this time are limited to WageCan, ANX, Bit-X, Shift and BitPay.

Shift is an option if you live in a state that Shift ships to and already have a Coinbase account. BitPay does not require an account and ships to all US states. Because any US resident with a driver’s license can easily order a BitPay card expect it to be the preferred option for many in the US.

If you do not want to order a bitcoin debit card Coinomat makes it possible to fund a card you already own using bitcoin. All you have to do is open an account at Coinomat and fund your account with Bitcoin, Litecoin, BitcoinDark, Peercoin or NXT. You can then use any of those coins to send funds to a VISA or MasterCard you already own.

The withdrawal to your VISA or MasterCard from Coinomat takes 2-4 business days and is carried out in US dollars. Your bank will convert it to the currency of your card by using its exchange rates if your card is not denominated in US dollars. You can transfer up to $2499 to one card per week.

Do you have one of our recommended bitcoin debit cards? Please join the discussion below and rate your experience with your favorite card.