The timing of the rollout couldn’t be better. Zug, Switzerland-based bitcoin wallet startup Bread unveiled plans to accept international bitcoin purchases via credit card. Bread is boasting features such as “high limits” and same-day delivery for bitcoin purchases, both of which are often missing from cryptocurrency exchanges. By allowing this service, which is a product of a relationship with Simplex, investors can bypass cryptocurrency exchanges, which incidentally top US banks have taken aim at of late.

Bread tweeted –

While Bread is making it easier for investors to get their hand on bitcoin, banks are making it more difficult. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Lloyd’s in recent days placed a ban on bitcoin purchases via credit card. Cryptocurrency exchanges appear to be tops on banks’ radar for credit card bitcoin purchases.

Bread’s decision, meanwhile, came in response to customer demand amid the following idiosyncracies with exchanges –

getting “verified” on an exchange or online brokerage is a cumbersome and lengthy process

daily limits are modest for investors looking to acquire a significant position

bitcoin delivery takes a painful minimum of one week with a bank account purchase

The Bread app, meanwhile, gives investors what they’re missing from the likes of Coinbase –

same day delivery of bitcoin

daily and monthly limits of $20,000 and $50,000, respectively

User identification is completed on the Bread app, removing the need to juggle devices and copy/paste multiple addresses

Perhaps the best feature of the Bread wallet is it puts the private key in the accountholder’s hands, removing the need to trust a third-party service provider, a decentralized approach that is similarly at the core of the blockchain. This is unlike exchanges, where if a buyer doesn’t own their own digital wallet, the bitcoin is automatically kept in the exchange’s wallet, which as the Coincheck showed the world can be a risky bet in the event of a breach.

Bread also draws the conclusion that fees are not an area of concern for investors, which crypto traders may take issue with, especially considering the highly anticipated launch of Robinhood. Bread’s theory is that considering the volatility in the bitcoin price, a buyer’s No. 1 concern when purchasing bitcoin is immediacy. They say:

“We’ve used this feedback to offer a solution that best balances fees against the other advantages of using the service.” — Bread

Crypto Doldrums

The good was cheered on Twitter, though it did little to lift the bitcoin price out of the doldrums. Bitcoin at the time of publishing was down about 15% to below the $7,000 threshold, dropping lower than even some of the worst-case scenarios.

Venture-backed Bread came on the scene in 2015, with its own digital coin Bread (BRD) lower with the best of them, trading off more than 17%.

Featured image from Shutterstock.