Coinbase’s crypto debit card is launching in the U.S. and lets users earn back bitcoin

Crypto exchange Coinbase is launching a Visa debit card in the U.S. next year.

Sharing the news with The Block on Wednesday, Coinbase said it opened up a waitlist for U.S. customers who wish to get the card and will start distributing them “in the first half of next year.” Debit cards for Coinbase customers are currently available in the U.K. and EU.

Coinbase Card is a Visa debit card that allows users to spend their cryptocurrency funds directly from their Coinbase accounts. The card is accepted at any retailer that accepts Visa debit cards.

Notably, the card will come with spending rewards — specifically, U.S. residents can opt to earn 1% back in bitcoin (BTC) or 4% back in Stellar lumens (XLM).

Coinbase said the card’s U.S. launch is a “significant milestone,” as it would help
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Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contract Release Kicked Back Until November

The Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract is a few weeks away at least, according to Ethereum Foundation researcher Danny Ryan.

Speaking Thursday on the Bankless podcast, Ryan said the deposit contract won’t go live until it receives a thumbs up on an audit of a critical crypto library, BLST, performed by cryptography audit firm NCC Group.

“This library is critical to creating keys, signing messages. Critical, in early phases, [means] that if you use this library, they need to be secure; if you use it to generate your wallets, it needs to have good randomness; and if you are signing your deposits which have a signature associated, it needs to be correct,” Ryan said. “Given that how critical this library is, and given that, if there is a fundamental error in this library we could f*ck some sh*t up in terms of genesis deposits, that is the blocker,” he said.
Ethereum 2.0 core researchers are now expecting the deposit contract – a one-way Ethereum smart contract that holds staked ether (ETH) necessary for securing the new Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network – to be released in early to mid-November pending the audit’s findings, Ryan said.
Ryan said researchers are still eyeing 2020 for the genesis block of the Beacon chain.
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3 Reasons Some Top Traders Expect Bitcoin Price to Hit $15K in Q3 2020

The Bitcoin (BTC) price surpassed $10,000 on Thursday, completing a V-shape recovery from its fall to $3,600 back in March. Traders believe that the rally is just beginning for the top-ranked cryptocurrency by market capitalization as a confluence of positive factors is fueling the uptrend. Purely based on technicals, analysts anticipate the Bitcoin price to rise as high as $15,000 by the third quarter of 2020. Historically, $10,000 acted as a psychological level for BTC price. A clean breakout of such an important price level in a short period of time may lead to a renewed upsurge.
Bitcoin price completed a V-shape recovery to $10,000 as crypto traders expect it to reach $15,000 in Q3 2020.

$14,000 to $15,000 is a strong resistance range

Bitcoin breached a multi-year cycle dating back to December 2017. A further leg up towards $10,500 would confirm the start of a new cycle, possibly creating the foundation of another strong rally.

In 2019, the highest point Bitcoin rose to was $14,000 across major exchanges. In December 2017, both monthly candles also closed at the same level, indicating that $14,000 remains as a key resistance level in the medium-term.

If the Bitcoin price surpasses the $10,500 to $11,000 area or consolidates above $9,500, it would set BTC up to test $14,000. Given the tendency of BTC to overextend in the form a long wick often referred to as a blow-off top, there is a chance that it rises to as high as $15,000.
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