Visa to approve first Australian card for spending bitcoin

A start-up created by two mates from the University of Technology, Sydney has convinced global card giant Visa to approve the issuance of a physical debit card that will allow users of the CryptoSpend app to spend their bitcoin trading profits in shops and bars by tapping on existing payment terminals.

It will be the first time cryptocurrencies can be spent using a payments card issued in Australia that runs on the network of one of the international card schemes, and highlights global moves by Visa and Mastercard to make it easier to spend bitcoin and other digital currencies to pay for everyday items.