Bitcoin wallet provider Xapo reckons it's about to make Bitcoin use substantially easier, by teaming up with your more established form of banks to create a Mastercard-branded credit card that'll let you blow your virtual money in actual shops.


The problem seems to be that no one's told Mastercard about this arrangement. Speaking to Gigaom, a Mastercard representative said the company has "no relationship" with Xapo and that the Bitcoin management team's claims are therefore a little on the vapourware side of things.

However, Xapo says it uses a partner bank to authorise the transactions and thinks its debit card will be ready for use within a couple of months, and is encouraging users to sign up for it right now. There's just the little matter of making it work to sort out. [Xapo via Gigaom]


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