Bitcoin Credit Card Review: The Shift Card

Leon Di, Product Marketing @ WeTrust

As Bitcoin enthusiasts, we know how hard it can be to spend your Bitcoins. Depending on the country you live in, Bitcoin acceptance may be slim to none. Although some countries do have an highly advanced acceptance rate and infrastructure for payments set up, using bitcoins directly to pay for everything is nearly impossible. We can spend Bitcoins in places like the Microsoft online store, Newegg, Amazon, but when it comes to your everyday cup of coffee, the situation changes.

Why would we want to buy things with Bitcoin instead of using national currencies? Well, many people are paid directly in Bitcoin for their work. Transaction fees are lower than traditional payment methods and in most countries bitcoin can be used to circumvent taxes. Bitcoin miners are also paid in Bitcoin and investors often need to dig a bit into their Bitcoin holdings for everyday spending.

While converting Bitcoin to fiat whenever you need to use it is an option, it can be tiresome to exchange Bitcoin every few days. Furthermore, it usually takes a few days to withdraw from an exchange to your bank account. You could get around this by withdrawing a larger sum at the beginning or end of the month, but it may mean that you have to sell more than what you need in a middle of a bull run which is extremely frustrating.

With this in mind, we want to introduce you to the Shift Card, a debit card by Coinbase that allows you to pay for everything with Bitcoin. The merchant does not need to accept Bitcoin in order for it to work (he will most likely have no idea what Bitcoin is), he just needs to accept debit/credit cards, which is usually the case with every store. The card can also be used for online purchases and it comes in both physical and digital formats.

*“Just have to share my excitement today using bitcoin at every store I chose. Bought lumber at Lowes, oil at Jiffy Lube and lettuce wraps at Fire Bowl Cafe using the Coinbase Shift Visa card…. none of these merchants accept bitcoin nor cared when I shared my enthusiasm with the clerk that I was using bitcoin.” * — Reddit user

So, how does it work? The Shift Bitcoin Debit card is linked directly to the Coinbase wallet system, providing an easy way for Coinbase users to get goods with their bitcoins. Once the Shift card is connected to your Coinbase wallet, the value of your purchases will be deducted from the BTC balance and converted directly into USD at the current exchange rate.

The card can be used at any Visa accepting merchant and has low fees relative to the rest of the credit card industry by not charging for PoS transactions and having no monthly fee. The initial cost to acquire one of these cards is $10, a minor expense considering the time and effort you will save. The fees for the Shift card are also considerably lower than other solutions.

The only problem we’ve encountered with using the Shift card is in fact its connection to Coinbase. While this would usually be an advantage, Coinbase is currently working to fend off the IRS on the “John Doe” summons issued to acquire information on Coinbase users that may have evaded taxes. Since using the Shift card is indeed a taxable event, users should keep track of their expenses, which can be a bit complicated with Bitcoin.