Steem and Steemit are targeted at a very wide audience, yet still a large portion of the users is into crypto currencies or at least knows a bit about them or maybe even learned a bit after starting to use Steemit. One of the issues ahead of major adoption of the platform could be the lack of ease of use in regards to operating with what you are earning (if you manage to earn some rewards that is). Sure you can transfer Steem Dollars or Steem to a crypto exchange, trade them for something else and then withdraw them, but then again this is not something that a regular user may know how to do or even want to. This would require registrations in an exchange, verifications, getting to know how to operate with them and so on... these things are not easy for many people that are new to crypto currencies. So could a Steem Powered Debit Card help the wider adoption of the platform and Steem in general, helping new users not into crypto to make use of their funds in an easier and problem free way?
There are already quite a few services that offer prepaid debit cards that are powered by Bitcoin and there is even such a service that supports Steem as well - Bitwala (
No, I don't mean in terms of actual physical looks or graphical design of the card. What I mean is what the card should be offering the regular user in order to be an attractive option for people that are not intro crypto.
Obviously having to transfer and exchange currencies is not very convenient, it takes some time to get the money into a card and you can actually need to get them first in order to be able to use them. It is much more convenient if the card is directly tied to your Wallet, so when a transaction request comes in all the needed operations are performed based on your current balance to cover the transacted amount and any fees.
Steem has more usability on the platform, people may want to keep it as liquid tokens or Power Up to increase their influence via the Voting Power. Steem Dollars on the other hand need to find more usability and what better than actually being able to spend them just like you would with normal Dollars. Of course an option to choose between the two or to use Steem if your Steem Dollar balance is not enough for a transaction could be available.
Companies using prepaid Debit Cards that are tied to BTC or another crypto currency work with partners that are handing the actual card issuance and operations, so only the connection between actual money and Steem needs to be done by Steemit Inc. After all people would not trust direct access to their wallets to any other entity, so this will mean some extra work and extra team members handing this.
Due to the various regulations prepaid debit cards do require the collection of some personal data, usually after some minimal initial amount is used. There are different anti-money laundering laws and etc. that require money operators to collect user data and that can be against the beliefs of some users. Crypto users do value their anonymity if they want to remain anonymous, but remember that the target for such a card would be mostly regular users that have nothing against giving the required data to banks in order to have access to regular bank cards. These cards also do tend to have higher operating costs associated with the larger fees for the card operations you are doing compared to regular Debit Cards, though you should also think about the added convenience that they do provide you with.
So what do you think, does Steemit need its own Steem powered Debit Card or not?
If you have a question or want to add something, then please leave a comment below.
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