BitInstant To Introduce a BitCoin Credit/Debit Card

BitCoins, the well known and somewhat controversial virtual currency not tied to any bank or government, is to get a credit/debit card available sometime within the next two months.

Charlie Shrem, the founder of BitInstant, the company which allows BitCoins to be converted to real cash announced this in IRC with technology blog Coding In My Sleep. They will be partnering with an unnamed international bank to make the card usable worldwide, with the first 1000 registrants getting the card for free. After that, a fee of $10 will be payable.

The main attraction of BitCoins is that it’s a truly anonymous currency, making tracking of who traded with who next to impossible – perfect for ardent privacy enthusiasts and scam artists alike. The big catch of course, is that to register for a debit/credit card, customers will have to register in just the same way as for any other debit/credit card by providing full personal, verifiable details, destroying this critical anonymity – the whole point of BitCoins, hence its popularity remains to be seen. More details and a Google Docs sign-up form are available at the link below.