Here's What To Know About The Coinbase Debit Card

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is launching a new Visa Inc V-branded debit card that lets consumers spend their cryptocurrency anywhere Visa cards are accepted.

What Happened: Coinbase's new Visa debit card works just like any other Visa card at payment terminals, online stores, and ATMs. Users must select between one or more cryptos in their wallet for upcoming transactions and Coinbase will automatically liquidate a crypto to finance a transaction.

See Also: Bitcoin Nears 2018 Post-Bubble Highs As Mainstream Adoption Drives Rally

Why It's Important: The Coinbase Card can be managed through an app and consumers don't need to transfer tokens to different wallets to use the service. Coinbase will charge consumers a 2.49% liquidation fee unless the consumer opts to use USDC in which case there is no fee.

While this may be on the higher end compared to alternative cards, consumers are likely to appreciate the convenience of having immediate access to spend their cryptocurrencies on how and when they chose.

To alleviate some of the fees, Coinbase Card offers 4% back in Stellar Lumens (XLM) or 1% back in Bitcoin (BTC).

What's Next: U.S. consumers can sign up immediately and obtain a virtual card number and a physical card will arrive within two weeks. A similar initiative was already launched in the United Kingdom and Europe.