On Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, the ability to buy cryptocurrency using Visa and MasterCard credit cards has been opened to users. Initially, the direct purchase of the Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP) cryptocurrencies is available. In the future, it is planned to expand the list of available crypto assets.
The ability to buy cryptocurrencies for fiat currencies has been implemented by Binance in partnership with the Israeli fintech company Simplex. "The crypto industry is still in its early stages, and most of the world's money continues to remain in fiat. We want to give traders the opportunity for fast and easy access to crypto that will be as secure as possible. Building gateways into fiat is what we need now in order to expand the ecosystem, accelerate the adoption and spread of cryptocurrencies for a larger number of users. The partnership with Simplex will allow us to close the gap between card payments and crypto for traders around the world," said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
He also assured that the entire procedure of buying crypto using a credit or debit card will take minutes. This step is a landmark for Binance, which for a long time remained, albeit the largest by trading volume, but an exclusively cryptocurrency exchange, and it will make life even more difficult for its competitors, for example, Coinbase.
The average processing time for such a transaction is promised to be between 10 and 30 minutes. The fee will be 3.5% of the amount or $10, whichever is greater. In the list of countries for which this service is unavailable, in addition to the perennial inhabitants of such lists, there are Kyrgyzstan and China. As the company explains, some Chinese banks do not support this service. In addition, the list of territories whose residents are not covered by topping up the balance using a card includes 6 individual US states. In turn, Simplex specifies that its own transaction limits are $20 thousand per day and $50 thousand per month. In addition, the service obviously does not apply to cards issued by banks that have introduced bans on the purchase of cryptocurrencies for their clients.
Earlier, Simplex had already helped integrate the function of paying for cryptocurrency from credit cards into the Ethereum wallet MyEtherWallet, and provided a similar option for buying LTC directly on the Litecoin.com website.
