Coinbase Users in Over 20 States Can Now Spend Bitcoin with Visa Merchants

November 30, 2015 By: Asif Imtiaz

Coinbase has done something that all other Bitcoin exchanges only dreamed about, they have enabled half of the US popular to spend Bitcoin anywhere Visa branded credit cards are accepted.

This Monday, Coinbase announced its Shift Visa Debit Card in over 20 States in the US, which its users can use both online and offline to make retail purchases with around 38 million merchants from around the world who accept Visa branded cards.

In a bold statement, Shift stated on its website that “Whether your currency is new or old shouldn’t matter. Bitcoin is now accepted online and offline at over 38 million merchants worldwide.” “Case closed,” they added.

On the other hand, Coinbase defended the partnership with Shift by saying on their official blog that although Bitcoin has come a long way and making headwinds in the US, it is not as mainstream as consumers would like it to be.

“Buying gas at a local gas station or groceries at a neighborhood grocery store with Bitcoin has not been possible in most cities in the U.S,” said the Coinbase blog post.

Currently, there are no annual or conversion fees for using the Shift Visa Debit Card in the US. However, Coinbase mentioned that in the future, they might start charging a fee.

Although the original intention of the Bitcoin was to act as a currency itself, such dreams seem to be fading with every week as governments around the world are tightening their regulatory belts regarding the widespread use of digital currencies that can be used for making anonymous payments.

Instead, in September 2015, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) classified Bitcoin as a commodity instead of a currency. That classification effectively meant that just as consumers can get gold based debit card, now they could invest in Bitcoin and spend it with a prepaid Visa or MasterCard.