Aqua Wallet and JAN3 seem close to releasing their prepaid VISA credit card called the Dolphin Card. Some more information has become available about the card.
As mentioned earlier, card holders will be able to deposit and spend Bitcoin, Liquid Bitcoin, and Tether anywhere where VISA cards are accepted. The virtual card will not require KYC. The card can be reloaded with BTC, L-BTC, and USDT via the Lightning or Liquid network. The monthly spending limit remains set at $4000. US and Canadian customers will receive a different card, which is not yet available.
Some information about fees has become available.
- No additional fees will be charged by the wallet for payments besides the standard Bitcoin and Liquid network fees.
- Extra fees may apply for lightning payments and swaps.
- Sending via lightning: 0.1% + network fees
- Receiving via lightning: 0.25% + network fees
- Currency swaps: between 0.6% and 0.9% + network fees
- Converting between BTC and L-BTC: 0.1% + network fees
Aqua Wallet uses third party providers that charge network and swap fees. Those include SideShift, Changelly, and Boltz. I don't know how Changelly fits into the no KYC argument. Not only does the exchange have a bad reputation, they are also known for freezing crypto and requesting KYC, AML and SoF checks. Even if Aqua Wallet won't require KYC, Changelly sure as hell might.
Sadly, the Dolphin card will not be available to citizens in several countries. The usual suspects and sanctioned nations are on this list, but also some other countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Ukraine.
The Dolphin card will not work with merchants in a long list of countries. For instance, Bosnia, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey, etc. Basically, the entire Balkan region and many African countries are cut off from using the card if they wanted to. Too bad.
Here are all the restricted countries and territories where the card won't work:
As mentioned earlier, card holders will be able to deposit and spend Bitcoin, Liquid Bitcoin, and Tether anywhere where VISA cards are accepted. The virtual card will not require KYC. The card can be reloaded with BTC, L-BTC, and USDT via the Lightning or Liquid network. The monthly spending limit remains set at $4000. US and Canadian customers will receive a different card, which is not yet available.
Some information about fees has become available.
- No additional fees will be charged by the wallet for payments besides the standard Bitcoin and Liquid network fees.
- Extra fees may apply for lightning payments and swaps.
- Sending via lightning: 0.1% + network fees
- Receiving via lightning: 0.25% + network fees
- Currency swaps: between 0.6% and 0.9% + network fees
- Converting between BTC and L-BTC: 0.1% + network fees
Aqua Wallet uses third party providers that charge network and swap fees. Those include SideShift, Changelly, and Boltz. I don't know how Changelly fits into the no KYC argument. Not only does the exchange have a bad reputation, they are also known for freezing crypto and requesting KYC, AML and SoF checks. Even if Aqua Wallet won't require KYC, Changelly sure as hell might.
Sadly, the Dolphin card will not be available to citizens in several countries. The usual suspects and sanctioned nations are on this list, but also some other countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Ukraine.
The Dolphin card will not work with merchants in a long list of countries. For instance, Bosnia, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey, etc. Basically, the entire Balkan region and many African countries are cut off from using the card if they wanted to. Too bad.
Here are all the restricted countries and territories where the card won't work: