Visa approves Bitcoin spending card for CryptoSpend

CryptoSpend, a local digital asset startup located in Sydney, has received a nod from Visa to issue a new Bitcoin debit card. The physical debit card will allow Australians to spend Bitcoin at several merchant locations across the country.

Following the issuance of the card, users will be able to spend their cryptocurrencies directly without converting them to any fiat currencies. Furthermore, the CryptoSpend app will allow users to make direct retail purchases, payout to their accounts, and also pay bills with supported digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and Bitcoin Cash.

In an interview with the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the co-founder of CryptoSpend Andrew Grech said:

Spending it [crypto] directly is a more convenient way of selling it… If the market is green, someone could say it’s time to spend some of my profits. On the other side of the fence, another person might say it’s going to keep going up, I’ll hold onto it.

Although Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Crypto.com had already been approved to be a direct user of Visa cards, CryptoSpend will be the first to roll out such services in Australia.

The approval points to the growing interest in cryptocurrencies in Australia and across the globe. It also demonstrates the global moves made by Visa and Mastercard to allow users to spend digital assets locally.

Meanwhile, local payments company Novatti will be responsible for distributing the new card, which is expected to hit the market in September.