The British startup London Block Exchange has announced a bank card that will allow customers to pay directly at the box office with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Pay with Bitcoin at checkout: The Dragoncard made it possible
So far, cryptocurrency owners like Bitcoin, Ethereum or Ripple have not found it easy to directly purchase products or services in everyday life. That will change when it comes to the British fintech startup London Block Exchange (LBX). LBX has announced with the Dragoncard a bank card that can be paid at the checkout with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The Dragoncard, which will be released in December - initially exclusively in the UK - combines the functions of a conventional bank card with those of a crypto-wallet using a smartphone app. If a customer wants to pay at the cash register with the card that is cryptocurrency it will convert it in pounds sterling in no time. The currencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Monero are supported, as LBX announced.
Bitcoin on the map: transaction will costs 0.5 percent
Customers can register for the card and get their place on the waiting list. New registration will cost 20 pounds (22.40 euros). LBX reserves 0.5% of the transaction volume for exchanging purchases. Incidentally, with the card users should be able to withdraw money at the ATM. Again, this is a small fee. LBX promises security using the same systems as banking in the UK.
Behind the startup is, inter alia, Adam Bryant, who acts as Chairman of the London Block Exchange. Bryant has experience in the financial world, has been a bank manager in the hedge fund sector at Credit Suisse for 18 years and two years at UBS. LBX founder and CEO Ben Dives founded the brainstorming tool Ideaflip before LBX, the British Evening Standard reports. LBX has so far raise of two million pounds (2.24 million euros) fund from private investors.