Coinbase Expands Apple Pay Options for Bitcoin, Ethereum Buys

Coinbase on Thursday announced a significant expansion of its payment integrations with Apple and Google. Starting today, iPhone users will be able to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies with any Visa or Mastercard debit card linked to Apple Pay.

While the Apple Pay option has been available to Coinbase users since June, it required users to have a Coinbase-branded debit card.

The company’s Thursday announcement, which came in a blog post, means that the option will become available to most consumers, since a large number of mainstream bank’s debit cards rely on the Visa and Mastercard networks.

Android users, however, have to wait until “later this fall,” according to Coinbase, which is when the company will integrate with Google Pay for Visa and Mastercard debit cards.

Thursday’s news is significant because it reflects an alliance between North America’s largest crypto exchange and two tech giants, both of which have major payment ambitions of their own. In addition, Coinbase noted that more users can transfer funds via PayPal accounts.

Meanwhile, Coinbase also disclosed on Thursday that customers will be able to cash out large amounts instantly.

“Coinbase is the first crypto exchange to offer instant cashouts via Real Time Payments (RTP), enabling customers in the U.S. with linked bank accounts to instantly and securely cash out up to $100,000 per transaction,” said the company.

RTP refers to a new service adopted by a growing number of U.S. banks that allows for near-instantaneous transfers between different financial institutions. The service is a major advance over the current ACH system, which can result in basic money transfers taking days to complete.

5 August 2021 15:59