Coinbase is getting a major boost with upcoming Apple Pay support

Coinbase Card users in the U.S. will be able to begin syncing their debit cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay accounts in the coming weeks, according to a company announcement yesterday. Okay sure, this might only excite a select number of you out there, but the news is still a major win for cryptocurrency advocates, and portends the rapidly growing popularity of crypto payment alternatives like Bitcoin and Ethereum. When both Apple and Google agree to link your service’s debit card, the legitimacy of your banking option is pretty undeniable, and almost certainly will boost sign-ups and usage on Coinbase’s end of things.

But, of course, it wouldn’t be Coinbase if it didn’t include pause-worthy transaction fees. Although the company is touting 1% Bitcoin and 4% Stella Lumen cashback perks for every purchase, as Decrypt notes, Coinbase’s uniform 2.75% transaction fee is still very much a thing, meaning cardholders will still lose a little extra each time, at least when it comes to Bitcoin. That said, any purchase using USDC stablecoin will incur zero fees alongside the aforementioned 1% Bitcoin bonus.

Is this a bit of a niche subject? Maybe. But with this latest boost from Apple and Google, Coinbase is banking on cryptocurrency debit cards not remaining obscure for much longer.

Cryptocurrency’s ascendance continues — Apple and Google’s Coinbase boost is the latest in a growing number of major companies conceding cryptocurrency’s lasting legitimacy, despite any wild, Elon Musk-influenced volatility.

Just last month, Venmo (itself owned by crypto-friendly PayPal), announced it would begin allowing users to buy and sell Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin, with Amazon hinting at some kind of secret (read: terrifying) cryptocurrency project earlier this year.

About that volatility... — There’s no denying crypto markets’ endemic — argubly inherent — volatility will remain a major turn-off for many people. It’s gonna be hard to get the more financially conservative among us on board when a single tweet from the Technoking himself can send an entire market into a downward spiral. And then there’s the whole “extremely detrimental to our already precarious environment” thing, which, well... let us get back to you on that in three or so years.