In a fast turn of events, WaveCrest has announced that it has received a notice from Visa to stop the operations of all non-US digital token debit cards. The latest development effects almost every bitcoin debit card provider.
Wirex, TenX, and Bitwala are some of the largest stakeholders in the bitcoin debit card market. Debit cards belonging to all these companies have been cancelled with immediate effect. This means that users cannot access their funds anymore and are unable to perform any transactions.
It is important to understand that Wirex, TenX, and Bitwala are just providers of the debit card services. However, the cards are issued by WaveCrest, with the permission of the global fintech company, Visa.
Thousands of users are unable to access their funds at the moment and there is no solution in sight. The following email was released by Bitpay. In the email, Bitpay clarifies that the users will be refunded the amount that was in their card accounts.
Bitpay's statement
Wirex stops working
Wirex also sent an email to all its debit card users in which it stated that services will unavailable till further notice.
Wirex's statement
While this may not be the end of the world, this has caused severe inconvenience to the users of these cards. Without an effective method to use bitcoin in the real world, it has no intrinsic value.
The latest attack on the bitcoin debit cards may signal a new effort on the global crackdown. A few months back, Visa stopped providing services to non-European residents. However, the latest attack paves way for a new opportunity and opens the room for the replacement of WaveCrest.