If you’re wondering what makes Tenx different from the other crypto debit card options, it’s got to be the fact that they allow you to spend a number of different cryptos. Right now they have made Bitcoin, Ethereum, a few ERC20 tokens, and Dash available for you to load and spend using their card.
But even more impressive then that, Tenx is also doing a lot of work to accomplish off-chain and cross-chain transactions to help with scalability. They’ve been working to achieve this with their open source protocol called COMIT. which stands for Cryptographically-secure Off-chain Multi-asset Instant Transaction network.
This protocol links blockchains together and it removes the need for a third party to transact between blockchains. It’s still in the works but if this proves successful it certainly has the potential to change the game for cryptos.
If you’re like me and the thought of understanding cross-chain transactions is almost enough to make your head burst, the co-founder of TenX, Julian Hosp gives a superb explanation during his interview with a fellow crypto youtuber, Boxmining. Check the link down below to view this interview and get a better grasp of cross-chain transactions.
Tenx offers a 1% reward paid in their PAY token for just being a card holder and also a 5% reward paid in Ether for holding the PAY token. Also if you chose to make a purchase using the PAY token, you’ll get a reduced transaction fee.
You need to download the Tenx wallet before using your card.
The App is only compatible with Android so far, the web app will be available to everyone in the next week or so, and the same can be said for the IOS app.
If you order a card right now, you’ll be added to the waiting list. It can be anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months until you receive it.
Although Tenx is available in many different countries, it is not yet available to citizens of the U.S. This has to do with their recent ICO. They are waiting until 90 days have passed to see if the SEC regulations will have any affect before releasing to the U.S. They are planning to add the U.S. to the list sometime in Q4 of this year. You can check out the link down below to see the list of available/unavailable countries.
As with every crypto debit card, the card limits are set based on how much information you supply.
Without any verification or information whatsoever, you can gain access to their wallet and use it as just that, a wallet. If you want to get a card you’ll need to submit your full name, shipping address and date of birth, with this you’ll get a $2,500 lifetime limit on your card
Once you submit your passport and proof of address you will get unlimited use of your Tenx card.
Now let’s tackle the tricks behind transaction fees and exchange rates.The thing that is important for you to pay attention to is the fact that many cards that give you 0 transaction fees often get reimbursed other ways, like by using poor exchange rates. Since I’m a U.S. citizen that uses the IOS operating system, I can’t see for myself just yet whether or not the Tenx app shows you the exchange rate that it give you when using their card. If they do then that’s great and it’s a good sign that they are being transparent. However if they don’t it’s likely this might be how they are able to offer zero transaction fees.
In the interview that I mentioned earlier, Julian explains that when converting to fiat Tenx uses the Interbank exchange rate, which is the best rate available, so this is a great start at least.
The near future plans for Tenx are as follows:
End of 2017 they will aim to ease the process of accessing cryptos with fiat.
They also have future plans to address the volatility of crypto prices, they seem to hold back on the details about this to keep a leg up on their competition, but these updates are planned for around Q2 of 2018.