By
Tolu Ajiboye
April 16th, 2024
The US customers will soon enjoy the benefits of a Coinbase Debit Card after it launched in the UK successfully letting users pay for their daily bills using crypto.
Brian Armstrong, the Coinbase CEO, announced in a recent interview plans to introduce the “Coinbase debit card” in the US. He was holding his live AMA on Youtube and answered many interesting questions arising from the Consensus discussion.
After confirming that the Custody just crossed $1 billion assets under management (AUM), 70 more institutions have signed up. These new institutions have added approximately $150 million AUM a month. Armstrong held the interview in the company’s New York offices presumably in town for blockchain week.
The CEO answered several quick-fire questions in the session. He first tackled the question about “community trust ratings” for altcoins. He equated crypto to the internet as more options emerge. Hence, better methods of getting real top-quality projects must come along sooner than later.
He also touched on the decision to introduce the debit card in the United States. As we reported earlier, Coinbase announced its new Visa debit card in a drive to push further the cryptocurrency adoption. The trial in Europe and the UK was a success pushing the company to introduce these cards in the US.
Coinbase Card Features
The new card supports all the cryptos available for transactions on the Coinbase platform. According to the latest announcement, customers have the capability to pay for most of their daily purchases. They can buy a meal or book a ticket using this card. The Coinbase Card is supported entirely by the crypto customer accounts. Thus, customers can pay on-site and online using Bitcoin and other major tokens.
Customers can use their card at millions of places around the world. They can make payments by chip, contactless, and PIN. Moreover, they can withdraw cash from ATMs. Whenever one is using their Coinbase card, the company converts cryptography into fiat currency, like EUR or GBP, to finish their purchasing process. The accompanying mobile application lets the customers select the encryption device that they want to pay for.
Margin Trading on Coinbase Pro
Armstrong said that margin trading is one of the most requested features on Coinbase Pro. He acknowledged that many other exchanges offer leveraged trading and are doing well with it. Therefore, there is a clear market demand for it. When it comes to offering such products to the consumers, there are several regulatory issues to put into consideration.
For now, Coinbase aspires to become a global exchange. Thus, its best products must meet the lowest common denominator of regulatory standards. Armstrong commented:
“This is one of those products where you have to innovate not just on the technology, but also on the regulatory side.”
Optimizing Tax Tools
Using the card in the US could be expensive bearing in mind the capital tax gains the government will make from the use of it. Every transaction must undergo an examination to determine whether the taxes should apply. Thus, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will oversee the Coinbase Debit card domestically.
Taxes will, in the end, be implemented for the conversions from digital currencies. Furthermore, it will still be imposed on retail purchases just as it is the case with credit cards. Transactions involving airdrops and purchasing tokens are not exempted from the chopping block for taxation. Armstrong concluded:
“Our tax tools could be a little bit better I admit that. We are working on it every year, but every time comes to another crunch so we have to deal with that then… We want to create crypto-economy with more economic freedom. That will help the world to grow. Everybody can participate.”