The Bakkt Visa debit card, which is praised for allowing users to “exploit digital assets in their day-to-day lives,” is now accessible for online and in-store purchases.
Bakkt, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange, has launched a debit card that allows clients to make retail purchases using cryptocurrency.
Bakkt announced on Tuesday that it has launched a totally virtual Visa debit card that could be used both online and in stores. Cardholders can spend Bitcoin (BTC) directly from their Bakkt accounts without having to wait for the cryptocurrency to be converted to fiat currency.
“Imagine a Bitcoin user who sees a significant gain,” said Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael. “Now, instead of selling and waiting to transfer to a bank, they can simply walk into their favorite store, tap their Bakkt Card and buy that new item they’ve been eyeing […] the Bakkt Card untethers Bitcoin owners from their online-only past into a world with countless options to leverage the digital assets in their day-to-day lives.”
The debit cards are being issued by Sutton Bank, a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in accordance with a Visa license.
Bakkt avoids BTC transaction fees by selling crypto to users at a higher price than the current market rate, which the company claims has been “no more than 1.5 percent throughout 2021.”
Bakkt said in March that it has built a digital asset payments application that would allow clients to make purchases using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The platform was marketed at the time as a way to “increase customer spending, lower payment costs, and strengthen merchant loyalty programs.”
As the industry increases in popularity, many exchanges and digital asset marketplaces have released their own crypto debit cards this year.
In February, BitPay stated that it will offer a crypto Mastercard that would support six tokens, while Crypto.com’s Visa card allows customers to fill their accounts with more than 100 cryptocurrencies.
