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Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

blog.coinbase.com

311–320 of 359 posts

Re: Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

#311
post #39

Just a reminder to Bitcoin newbies: This card looks like an OK product (still open questions about how much coinbase is gaming the ask/bid spread) but just realize that this card does NOT use Bitcoin, it uses "Coinbase Bitcoin"[1] which is Bitcoin for which the coinbase company is managing your private key: You only truly own Bitcoins if you own the private key for the account (users of MtGox learn this the hard way…

"You only truly own Bitcoins if you own the private key for the account"

Here we get into the distinction between ownership and possession. You own coinbase bitcoin the way you own the stocks in your brokerage account. You don't possess coinbase bitcoin the way you possess the dollar in your pocket.

Re: Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

#312
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, even then. Require the customer to verify that he/she received the card in their online banking interface. Mark it as invalid/stolen/whatever before that.

This may seem foreign to most people here, but there's still a TON of people who don't do online banking or have an account setup/bookmarked for all their financial institutions online sites.

Well, in those cases you can go to the next branch.

Re: Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

#313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Different axis aka not security. The security is much better. But it's slow and inconvenient.

I opened an account at Metro Bank (in London), in a branch. They verified my id, then printed a debit card — this took about 10 minutes — and let me set its initial PIN in the bank. I don't know if this is now normal in the UK. The previous time I opened an account in-branch was 2004, when the chip card arrived by post a few days later, with the PIN in a separate letter.

Similar situation here in Germany – but some banks, as I mentioned, require you to verify online that you received the letters, if you enabled this security feature.

In fact, I’ll go next friday to the bank to get a new debit card, as my existing one stopped working a few months ago.

Re: Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

#314

I cannot recommend Coinbase at all. I operate an adult comic book publisher and they shutdown our account without notice and gave no real reason for their action. All support tickets took 3 - 5 days to get a reply and it was always unhelpful. For a company like ours the whole appeal of Bitcoin is the anonymity, so our readers don't have to worry about buying lewd comics and having it show up on their statements. Coin…

Can you recommend something better? Can anyone in this comment section recommend a better service? I'm an artist who wants to use bitcoins for nearly an identical reason. However, there have been two big limiting factors, which have prevented my supporters and artist peers from using bitcoin. 1) It isn't clear how they get money into and out of the system. - The artists don't want a bunch of 'bitcoins' that they don'…

I'm working on something that solves this problem. Can you shoot me a note? Email: b@privacy.com

Re: Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

#315
post #192
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The risk of what? Coinbase stealing everyone users bitcoins and running away? Better not use any bank, credit union, or money transferring service to stay safe.

My bank deposits are FDIC insured

Worth mentioning, Coinbase has some kind of insurance: https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/166237...

Re: Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

#317
Devil's advocate: Ive had little to no problem with Coinbase for a good 80%+ of my bitcoin usage.

The only issue I had is my buy limit decreased suddenly because they added more security I had to verify for my identity and didn't notify me. Once I verified my ID it was instantly reinstated.

Re: Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

#319

I cannot recommend Coinbase at all. I operate an adult comic book publisher and they shutdown our account without notice and gave no real reason for their action. All support tickets took 3 - 5 days to get a reply and it was always unhelpful. For a company like ours the whole appeal of Bitcoin is the anonymity, so our readers don't have to worry about buying lewd comics and having it show up on their statements. Coin…

Can you recommend something better? Can anyone in this comment section recommend a better service? I'm an artist who wants to use bitcoins for nearly an identical reason. However, there have been two big limiting factors, which have prevented my supporters and artist peers from using bitcoin. 1) It isn't clear how they get money into and out of the system. - The artists don't want a bunch of 'bitcoins' that they don'…

coinjar. and they've had a Bitcoin debit card for about 6months ^.^

Re: Introducing the Shift Card: Use Bitcoin where Visa is accepted

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They only appear to care about the customer experience when someone complains on social media, until then they have a history of being jerks to their users. They closed my account after I made a (relatively small) wire transfer after not using their service for a while. The year before I made much larger transfers that didn't seem to concern them. Suddenly I needed to provide them with lots of financial information.…

What's really odd about this (to me at least) is I've never had such an experience from any of my real banks.

Real banks will ask you for Driver Licenses and SSN when you open a bank account with them.

Information on DL has your height, eye color, address, telephone number, your photo, your finger prints. That's why they don't need to ask for your income again.

However, I tried Coinbase and will not use them ever again.

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