LONDON—Using Bitcoin as a means of payment just got a lot harder in Europe.
Several of the most popular Bitcoin debit cards—basically prepaid cards, topped up with cryptocurrency—stopped working in Europe after Visa Europe terminated services for WaveCrest, a prepaid card issuer, Motherboard reported.
“Prepaid cards are an important way for people to use Bitcoin to pay for things, even if the retailer doesn't accept cryptocurrency. Customers deposit their Bitcoin into an account with the Bitcoin debit card company, and the company converts it into fiat money-payments with these cards are processed by established players like Mastercard and Visa,” Motherboard explained.
After Visa Europe's decision regarding WaveCrest, Bitcoin debit card companies Bitwala, BitPay, Cryptopay, and others announced on Twitter that cards in Europe would stop working effective immediately, and customer funds will be returned, Motherboard said.
CUToday.info recently reported on the emergence of cryptocurrency debit cards in the U.S. The cards give users the freedom to pay in virtual currency just like any normal transaction. Nasdaq has issued a statement that suggested the ability to use cryptocurrencies for transactions “in our day-to-day lives-directly without pre-conversion into fiat-at regular stores, restaurants, or gas stations-can be the tipping point that merges the crypto and real world.”
Cryptocurrency debit cards function like clones of fiat debit cards in terms of simplicity, ease of use and acceptance. The payments are carried out in collaboration with a payment gateway (Visa or Mastercard).