Coinbase Inc. has been granted principal membership to Visa Inc., a decision that allows the cryptocurrency firm to provide more features to customers who opt for a Visa card to access their crypto funds.

The decision was made in December but only announced today. It makes Coinbase the first pure-play crypto company to be approved as a Visa principal member.

Coinbase has previously offered Visa cards to users, but this was in partnership with other companies such as with the Shift Visa Debit Card launched in 2015. Shift shut down in February 2019, denying Coinbase users a debit card option.

The current iteration of the Coinbase debit card started last year with the launch of Coinbase Card in the U.K. The new membership with Visa allows Coinbase to offer the card in 29 markets with support for 10 cryptocurrencies. “This membership will enable us to offer more features for Coinbase Card customers; from additional services to support in more markets — all elements that will help to evolve and enrich the cryptocurrency payment experience,” Coinbase said on Medium.

The Coinbase Card was initially issued in conjunction with Paysafe Group PLC. The approval of Visa principal membership means that Coinbase, should it so choose, no longer needs to rely on Paysafe or any other third parties to issue Visa cards.

The announcement has been well-received in the cryptocurrency community. The Daily Hold wrote that “by allowing people to spend digital assets at over 40 million merchants around the world, the integration helps transform bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from novel tech used by the few into currency that powers everyday transactions for millions and billions of shoppers – like cash.”

Users will likely see little change given that Coinbase was already issuing cards to users. That said, the Visa membership will allow Coinbase more freedom to issue cards in more markets, meaning that potentially more Coinbase users could take up the option.

“Your bitcoin holdings have never been liquid because you have to sell them, you have to go through a process, withdraw the money, and then spend it. It’s never been an instant, ‘Oh, I’ll buy this cup of coffee with bitcoin,'” Zeeshan Feroz, chief executive officer of Coinbase UK, told Forbes. “What the card is trying to change is the mindset that crypto is tucked away, takes two days to access and can actually now be spent in real time.”

Photo: Marco Verch/Flickr