A Reloadable Visa Debit For Your Bitcoins | Hacker News Reader

A Reloadable Visa Debit For Your Bitcoins

coincashcard.com

6 pointsgbachik19 comments

You can now purchase anything using bitcoins!

From just looking at their website, it seems that they're going to run afoul of banking/money services regulations in nearly every country, if it is not shut down by VISA first.

1. I don't know much about countries other than the US, but in the US you have to be at least 16 with an adult as the joint owner of the card to get a debit card.

2. (Correct me if I'm wrong) I haven't seen a case where you can get a debit card without an ID. No withdrawal limits, no ID verification, and moving it through bitcoin seems like a very easy way to launder money.

In reference to point 2, in the UK you can get a debit card with no ID. For example, the IDT Prime card [1] . It can be bought and reloaded with cash at a large portion of convenience stores and post offices. The terms and conditions [2] state you must be 18 to buy the card, but I would imagine this is loosely enforced, if at all.

The card has significant use limits and very steep fees.

[1] http://www.idtprime.com/

[2] http://www.idtprime.com/terms/ReloadJan14.pdf

VISA gift cards?

Those have all sorts of limits, basically anything above a few hundred euro a year and you are running afoul of EU AML laws, look at paypal for example to see what the limits are before you have to verify paypal accounts, its roughly the same for reloadable cards.

I actually wrote to them to say:

"It is a really neat idea, but....

1. 15% is usurious. I know you have approximately a 2.2-2.8% cost built in through Visa, and I don't mind paying a percent or so extra, but 15%?

2. You provide no contact information of any meaning or any sense of who you are or where you are. You are handling money and ought to be willing to provide complete details of your company. This would allow your customers to do a basic due diligence."

The site just screams "SCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM"

EDIT: contact just goes to email form to coincashcard@gmail.com

The site was launched prematurely and has since been fixed!

I really want this to be true, but man, does this website look shady: typos everywhere, questionable copy, and the default Yeoman favicon, FAQ doesn't mention who's issuing...

Sorry about the premature launch the website has since been fixed

Just an FYI to readers of this thread. Yes, the nature of bitcoin seems to tilt toward dismissing startup ideas like this as a scam, but I personally contacted the founder of the site, and I can say with confidence that this is a legitimate, although very early-stage service. I have funded my account, and verified through CoinCashCard's payment processor that the money is indeed on the card.

Proof: http://i.imgur.com/2D3wn8L.png

While such a thing definitely appeals to me due to it's simplicity, my too-good-to-be-true detector immediately kicked in when I read that 1) it was a Visa card, 2) there were no age restrictions and 3) no address request. Those points were the most salient, but there was just an underlying current of suspiciousness. Normally, something that sounds this cool has a website full of caveats.

Pretty sure this guy[0] is just gathering emails. I've been working on a credit card/Bitcoin project for 8 months now, and it is insanely hard to get merchant accounts to work with you as a Bitcoin company.

[0] Domain registered by http://www.gagebachik.com/

15%? This is insane. How is this not in breach of almost every financial regulation since the big bang?

So many typos on their website...

all of which should be fixed :]

No HTTPS. Go and die.

There is now https sorry

I can actually still access the site without https.

Problem looks to be solved. Thanks for fixing.

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