Quote
Oh, the irony: NY startup launching Bitcoin debit cards in two months
Bitcoin is about to enter the physical real world now that startup BitInstant aims to create a debit card system based on the BTC currency.
Natt Garun
2012-08-23
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/bitcoin-debit-cards/
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Still, the entire concept of BitInstant cards seem ironic, to say the least. The point of Bitcoin is to provide anonymity and leave banks out of the money transfer equation, yet introducing a bank-issued Bitcoin card would bring both issues back to the forefront. We can’t imagine that a bank would issue a BitInstant card without so much as providing a trackable feature on the card, ruining the whole anonymous transaction feature Bitcoin had going for it. Even if BitInstant and the banks that issued the cards cannot publicly release transfer history made on the card, we’re pretty sure one can get a hold of that information if a user can acquire a police warrant to make banks give them that data.
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Bitcoin is about to enter the physical real world now that startup BitInstant aims to create a debit card system based on the BTC currency.
Natt Garun
2012-08-23
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/bitcoin-debit-cards/
...
Still, the entire concept of BitInstant cards seem ironic, to say the least. The point of Bitcoin is to provide anonymity and leave banks out of the money transfer equation, yet introducing a bank-issued Bitcoin card would bring both issues back to the forefront. We can’t imagine that a bank would issue a BitInstant card without so much as providing a trackable feature on the card, ruining the whole anonymous transaction feature Bitcoin had going for it. Even if BitInstant and the banks that issued the cards cannot publicly release transfer history made on the card, we’re pretty sure one can get a hold of that information if a user can acquire a police warrant to make banks give them that data.
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