Cointed, which owns 100 ATMs spread across the European continent, has announced that the participants in its December ICO are eligible to win one of five cryptocurrency debit cards. Participants who contribute more funds have a higher chance of winning; those who give more than 20 ETH tokens to the ICO will receive a Cointed Limited debit card for free. The only piece of identification needed to qualify for the giveaway is an email address provided at the time of contribution.
While the debit cards withdraw funds from crypto wallets, the payment comes through as fiat currency on the merchant’s end, which has the potential to make the process of using cryptocurrency for everyday shopping needs much easier.
If you don’t manage to win a debit card in the giveaway, never you fear. You can apply for a debit card post-ICO with the proper identification so long as you live in a country where they are allowed; so far, the debit card supports spending in USD, EUR, and GBP.
Cointed’s debit cards are issued by WaveCrest under the “MyChoice” program, and users granted the card will have to pay an issuance fee as well as other “future fees” whose purposes and amounts have not yet been disclosed.
Tough Times for ICOs; Cointed Moves Forward
The Cointed pre-ICO ran from October 19th-November 19th; the “real” ICO began this month and is scheduled to close all the way at the end of February next year (most ICOs run for four weeks). So far, a total of 3,664 ETH (roughly $1.6 million) have been raised.
The extended 3-month+ schedule for the Cointed ICO may be indicative of the sudden difficulty in attracting ICO participants in a market that has rapidly become saturated. In the month of October alone, cryptofinance research firm Smith + Crown reported that 169 ICOs had taken place, up from only 59 in September. Of those 169, 100 were forced to extend, postpone, or even cancel their sales.
Despite the competition, however, Cointed may just have the chops to stay on course for reaching its financial goals. While most ICOs raise money for networks, coins, and products that have only been conceptualized, Cointed has been operating its ATMs as well as some large crypto mining facilities since 2014.
The fact that the company has already been successfully operating for three years is a very positive sign that the funds raised in the ICO could go to good use. Additionally, if executed well, Cointed’s plans of action could bring a useful service to crypto users all over the world.
While there are a few good crypto debit cards on the market already (BitPay, Bitwala, and Uquid, to name a few), none of them has truly managed to be adopted on a larger scale. With the recent boom in Bitcoin , Cointed’s timing may be just right.
