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7/26/2017 Singapore Startup Launches Cryptocurrency Debit Card

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Home > Singapore Startup Launches Cryptocurrency Debit Card

Singapore Startup Launches Cryptocurrency


Debit Card
By Tyler Durden
Created 07/25/2017 - 23:30

[1]
by Tyler Durden [1]
Jul 25, 2017 11:30 PM
[2] [3]

A Singapore startup called TenX has designed a Visa card capable of debiting users
cryptocurrency wallets, allowing them to pay for goods at brick-and-motor merchants with bitcoin,
Ethereum and a handful of other digital currencies, according to Bloomberg. [4]

The question now is: Will anybody use it?

TenXs business model is straightforward: It allows its users to pay for goods in a given fiat
currency, then instantly converts cryptocurrency from their wallet into the amount needed
to cover the transaction.

[5]

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7/26/2017 Singapore Startup Launches Cryptocurrency Debit Card

To be sure, this isnt the first digital-currency debt card: Two other startups, CryptoPay and Xapo,
are selling similar products that focus exclusively on bitcoin. Being limited to bitcoin is obviously
problematic for traders who dont want to miss out on a single tick of the broad-based crypto rally,
which Goldman believes will carry BTC to the moon (or at least to $3,600) [6] by years end. But
TenXs promise of instantaneous conversion is already tempting users. The company says its
processing 100,000 transactions a month, which is significant, considering bitcoin and
Ethereum combined have a market capitalization of about $60 billion. The owners of most of
this wealth treat it like an investment, not a system for payments and its that attitude that
TenX will likely find to be the biggest obstacle in its quest to 100x its current volume to $100
million a month.

Another flaw: Transactions are capped at $2,000 a year though users can apply for a higher
limit if they undergo identify verification, something that crypto enthusiasts might balk at. And
with bitcoins future far from assured, picking the right mix of cryptocurrencies presents another
business risk.

TenXs bid to make digital currencies easier to spend comes amid massive volatility
and infighting within the cryptocurrency community. Bitcoin, the most popular,
slumped after reaching a record in June amid concerns about a split in two, only to
recover as fears faded. The company has built an app that serves as a digital
wallet connected to the Visa card so that when its swiped at a cafe or
restaurant, the merchant is paid in local currency and the users crypto
account is debited.

Despite its purported ease of use, even company officials admit that the network undergirding its
system is complex perhaps unnecessarily so. But on top of the 2% transaction fee it collects from
merchants, customers only pay a 15 to 20 basis point conversion fee levied by the exchange.

Youre mixing two worlds that are night and day, co-founder Julian Hosp said
in an interview. When the user spends the cryptocurrency, we have to
instantly switch these currencies to fiat and pay to Visa straight away. Its a
lot of pathways.

Hosp said transactions are processed immediately and it doesnt impose any
charges on top of the conversion fee that is set by cryptocurrency exchanges, which
typically is 0.15 to 0.2 percent. The card now supports eight digital currencies,
including the lesser-known dash and augur, and aims to offer about 11 of them by
the end of the year.

TenX, like all companies working on payments solutions involving cryptocurrency, also risks being
pushed out of the market by a larger rival with deeper pockets and more entrenched connections in
the payments space.

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7/26/2017 Singapore Startup Launches Cryptocurrency Debit Card

'TenX has an advantage in moving early, but the startup can expect
competition in the future from major financial institutions and venture
capitalists with deeper pockets and direct access to clients and databases,'
said Mati Greenspan, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based analyst at social trading platform
eToro.

Its an incredible concept, said Greenspan. At the end of the day, its going to
depend a lot on customer relations. Are they meeting the customers expectations?
Can somebody else do it better?

Last month, the firm raised $80 million worth of Ethereum through an initial coin offering. It plans to
spend half of that money to expand, and the other half to launch its own digital-currency exchange.
Before that, it raised $120,000 from angel investors and $1 million Fenbushi Capital, which
lists Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin as a general partner.

Alternative currencies Augur Bitcoin Bitcoin Blockchains Business Cryptocurrencies


Digital currencies Digital wallet E-commerce Ethereum Finance Money TenX
Vitalik Buterin Volatility

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-25/singapore-startup-launches-cryptocurrency-debit-card

Links:
[1] http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
[2] http://www.zerohedge.com/printmail/600483
[3] http://www.zerohedge.com/print/600483
[4] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-23/singapore-startup-counts-on-visa-to-take-bitcoin-into-real-world
[5] http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user245717/imageroot/2017/2017.07.25tenx.JPG
[6] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-24/goldman-nervous-bitcoin-traders-be-patient-next-surge-will-take-it-above-
3600

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