Visa to Approve First Bitcoin Spending Card in Australia

The global payments giant Visa has approved the issuance of a physical debit card that will allow Australians to spend their bitcoins at local stores and leisure venues. The inovation will enable customers to make direct purchases with crypto instead of converting digital assets to fiat money.

First BTC Spending Card in Australia

According to the Australian Financial Review report, Aussies will soon be able to spend cryptocurrencies via a new debit card created by the local app CryptoSpend. The American multinational financial services corporation – Visa – approved the effort after it checked if it complies with anti-money laundering regulations.

It is worth noting that this will be the first time when Aussies may use digital assets on an Australian payments card to execute daily purchases in shops and bars by tapping into existing payment terminals. Visa is expected to approve the move later this week officially.

Per the report, the card will be available on the market from September. It will be issued by the global software technology provider – Novatti Group, while the New York-licenced custodian – BitGo – will be in charge of safeguarding the assets. Apart from Bitcoin, customers will have other options such as Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Richard Voice – co-founder and COO of CryptoSpend – noted that the innovative card would be beneficial for the customers as they show increasing interest in cryptocurrencies:

“We have customers that range from 18-year-old students to 70-year-old grandmothers. [This] further emphasizes the growing appetite for people of all ages to use crypto as an everyday currency.”

Visa Sees BTC as Digital Gold

A few weeks ago, the payment technology company reported that more than $1 billion was spent on crypto-linked Visa cards. Officials of the company commented on the news:

“For the tens of millions of people using those platforms, one of the simplest ways to spend crypto is through a Visa card. We’re seeing digital wallets and crypto platforms build payment products entirely with digital currency.”

Additionally, back in April, during Visa’s Q2 2021 earnings call, it showed interest in fully integrating a cryptocurrency payment system into its current infrastructure. Visa’s CEO Alfred Kelly even stated that the company viewed Bitcoin and other crypto-assets as ‘digital gold.’