UPDATED 22:01 EDT / JANUARY 31 2019

BLOCKCHAIN

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance adds support for credit and debit cards

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance Ltd. today added support for credit and debit cards, making it one of the few leading exchanges that offer the service.

The largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Binance said it’s adding support via a partnership with payment processing company SimplexCC Ltd. Available from today for all Binance users, the feature can be accessed via the funds option in the company’s user interface.

The purchase amount in crypto is typed in, then users are redirected to Simplex’s checkout platform. As per regular credit card transactions, users are required to provide personal information to proceed with the transaction.

At launch, card support is only available for purchases of bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple XRP. But customers can then use their balance to purchase from a range of more than 150 other cryptocurrencies.

“The crypto industry is still in its early stages and most of the world’s money is still in fiat,” Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said in a blog post. “Building fiat gateways is what we need now to grow the ecosystem, increase adoption and introduce crypto to more users.”

As anyone who has attempted to purchase cryptocurrency before would know, it’s often difficult to make a purchase quickly because many exchanges require a bank or wire transfer of funds to purchase cryptocurrencies, something that often takes time. Providing support for credit and debit cards radically shortens the time required to make a crypto purchase.

One of core reasons support has been few and far between in the past is due to concerns over legal issues. Coinbase Inc. ceased support for card payments in February last year, saying that some credit card issuers have started placing restrictions or additional fees on credit card purchases of digital currency. In the same month, Fortune reported that most major U.S. credit card issuers have now banned the use of their cards to buy cryptocurrencies “in a move intended to decrease both financial and legal risk.”

It’s unlikely that those bans have been lifted, so it will interesting to see just how many card payments Binance will be able to process.

Image: Binance

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