I Bought My Morning Coffee With Gold!
Using a crypto based asset
Amazing right? What merchant will accept payment in gold (in Europe)? Although the method used is far from perfect: there are still many intermediaries for the transaction to go through. It is a huge step toward the day where we can buy with nearly no intermediary using crypto backed assets.
The used process involves two intermediaries; VISA and the SWIPE cryptocurrency wallet. This latter allows you to obtain a debit card for free. This card can be used to shop using cryptocurrencies. Among these cryptocurrencies, we find PAX GOLD: a physical gold-backed cryptocurrency. It is issued by PAXOS.
From the merchant point of view, I am simply paying with debit card using the local currency, Euro in my case, but in the background, a whole process is started. One of the steps is to check that there are enough funds (cryptocurrency) stored in the wallet associated with the card. Once the checking is done, the transaction is validated.
SWIPE is not the only company offering such debit cards, one of the alternatives is to use Crypto.com debit cards. They both offer similar services. Although so far I have tested only SWIPE. Looking forward to trying the version of Crypto.com (I already order it).
The dream is to be able to pay using cryptocurrency with no intermediary. The idea is to use the public and private keys to encrypt and confirm the transactions. Isn’t that the reason there is the term “crypto” added to “currency”! If someone, like VISA, is still needed to confirm our transactions we haven’t progressed much.
Still one of the biggest advantages of the card is that it allows anyone to quickly access their cryptocurrency stash to buy goods. Add to that the fact that the card is completely free! And did I mention that you have a 1% cashback on all purchases? You may even get a better offer if you are willing to stake some SWIPE tokens for a given period.
Before going to the coffee shop, I loaded my SWIPE wallet by sending some crypto from my Coinbase account. To do this, I used EOS since it is the fastest and the cheapest cryptocurrency to transfer. Once in my wallet, I converted it to PAX GOLD. Programmed my card to use it for all payments. Then went to the shop and bought my coffee using the contactless interface.
Please, feel free to share your opinion on the matter and don’t forget to like;)
Update: I am using my Swipe card increasingly more often enjoying the 1% cashback and controlling my daily spending to the amount I by loading just the needed amount for the week.
Update 2: Swipe has discontinued the debit card. It can no longer be used. We where given the necessary time to remove our crypto fund from the wallet.
