SAN FRANCISCO—Coinbase has announced the beta launch of a new feature that will facilitate the purchase of bitcoins instantly with U.S.-based debit cards.
The feature is already available for European users of Coinbase who have the means to buy the cryptocurrency through credit and debit cards.
Coinbase’s blog stated, “Today, we’re launching a new Coinbase product (in beta) to users in the United States. Buy bitcoin instantly with debit cards. Since there are over 5.2 billion debit cards in circulation, we’re confident this capability will make it significantly easier both for new users to get their first bitcoin, and for existing users to get bitcoin quickly.”
The announcement also added that the feature will only be available for 1% of U.S. customers while in its beta phase. The eventual rollout over the coming months will see the feature enabled for all U.S. customers.
Users who see the feature already enabled in their accounts can add a debit card via the payment methods page on Coinbase’s website. The same can be done from Coinbase’s Android and iOS apps. Once added, users can instantly buy bitcoin via the buy page, CryptoCoinsNews.com reported.
Coinbase was also the company behind the launch of what it claimed as the first U.S.-issued bitcoin debit card in November 2015.