In the spirit of bringing bitcoin to the masses, we are proud to announce the Xapo Debit Card – the first bitcoin debit card that allows users to spend bitcoins just like cash all over the world, right from their Xapo Wallet.

Xapo Debit functions like a traditional debit card and is a big step forward in the development of the bitcoin infrastructure – for the first time, customers have the ability to use bitcoin at any online or offline merchant that accepts debit or credit cards.* This makes it easy for users to pay with bitcoins in real-time and makes it seamless for merchants to accept payment. After a customer makes a payment using bitcoin, the merchant will receive the funds in their local currency.

This is a major improvement to cards already on the market, which are effectively “prepaid” cards that require the customer to manually convert their bitcoin into their local currency before making a purchase.

The mission of Xapo is to provide a system that is both convenient and secure. We offer our fully-insured Vault with the security needed for confident bitcoin savings combined with our easy-access Wallet. The Xapo debit card provides users a new, simpler way to access bitcoins and use them for everyday transactions.

We continue to believe that for bitcoin to develop as a global payment network, it’s the responsibility of companies like Xapo to create the infrastructure and tools necessary to give people the experience and true advantages of bitcoin. Xapo Debit lets users make purchases in a way that is very similar to using a traditional debit card. And we’ve made it simple for customers to spend their bitcoins at millions of businesses around the world without a merchant needing to accept bitcoin. It’s convenient for users, and easy for merchants.

This is one of many innovations we are working on this year. Our goal at Xapo is simple – to expand upon the existing infrastructure of the bitcoin network and provide the public with the tools to take full advantage of bitcoin.

Beginning today, you can sign up for the Xapo Debit on xapo.com. We anticipate shipping the debit cards beginning in two months.

To stay up to date on the latest news from Xapo, visit our website at xapo.com and be sure to follow us on Twitter @xapo.

*Xapo has relationships with banks in the US and Europe that issue and process the debit cards. The payment network (Mastercard, Visa, etc.) that will be used by the Xapo debit card is not yet determined and will depend on the bank. There is no relationship between Xapo and the payment network; rather there is a relationship between Xapo and the card-issuing banks.