Hong Kong-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex now enables its users to purchase cryptocurrencies with both credit and debit cards.

The exchange made the announcement on Dec. 20, saying:

“Buy cryptocurrencies with your debit or credit cards on Bitfinex. Whether it's Bitcoin, USDt, Ethereum, or any other ERC20 tokens, pick your favorite and purchase with your credit or debit cards directly.”

Bitfinex’s recent developments

December has witnessed a number of Bitfinex’s developments, with the exchange and crypto store Bitrefill partnered to allow the trading platform’s clients to shop with Bitcoin (BTC) over the Lightning Network. The collaboration will allow customers to buy over 2,000 different prepaid vouchers with BTC. The vouchers can cover the costs of services and products relevant to gaming, dining, entertainment, travel and more.

New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis is set to provide Bitfinex with it Anti-Money Laundering compliance solution to use the real-time monitoring capabilities of Chainalysis’ technology to identify high-risk outliers amid a high volume of transactions

Bitfinex also revealed the first of two major upgrades it says will completely change user payments and spending habits, confirming that it would support BTC transactions on the Lightning Network.

Crypto with credit/debit cards

Also this month, Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer announced the launch of “Instant Buy” on its European exchange platform. The exchange will thus provide its European users with the ability to buy cryptocurrency using a credit card, debit card and local instant transfer methods like Sofort, iDeal and GiroPay.

Coinbase Card, a crypto-powered Visa debit card from major crypto exchange Coinbase, began supporting Dai (DAI), a stablecoin pegged to the United States dollar, alongside major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin (LTC).