Singapore Startup Aims to Help Bitcoin Gain Real World Value with Visa
Visa getting into cryptocurrency is exciting, but how realistic are the company's plans? | Source: Shutterstock
A Singapore-based startup thinks it has the answer at boosting bitcoin’s real world value: through its Visa card.
TenX, which states on its website that it makes ‘cryptocurrencies spendable anytime anywhere,’ proclaims to be the answer at connecting bitcoin to the real world with the aid of its debit card and banking license.
In a report from Deal Street Asia , the Singapore startup is reported as being an ‘instant converter of multiple digital currencies into fiat money.’ These include the dollar, the yen and the euro. With TenX stating that they are attempting to make the spending of digital currencies, such as bitcoin, easier, the company has already received over 10,000 cards. Transactions are capped at $2,000 a year, but this can be increased with further customer verification.
By connecting TenX’s digital wallet to that of a Visa card, users can simply and easily pay for items in the merchant’s local currency, which is taken from the user’s digital currency account.
Julian Hosp, co-founder of TenX, said:
You’re mixing two worlds that are night and day. When the user spends the cryptocurrency, we have to instantly switch these currencies to fiat and pay to Visa straight away. It’s a lot of pathways.
At present, TenX process around $100,000 transactions a month, but the startup is aiming to reach $100 million in monthly transactions and a million users by 2018. It’s claimed by Hosp, that the startup doesn’t add charges on top of the conversion fee which is set by digital currency exchanges and that transactions are processed straightaway.
TenX ICO
In June, the startup joined the world of ICOs where it said that it raised $80 million in its token sale. With backing from ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Hosp added:
One thing we want to offer in the end, is that you can switch cryptocurrencies within the app. If we do this, we can become the market maker, which can bring in a lot of revenue.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
