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Advantages of cryptocurrencies vs credit cards

Jul 27, 2022

           On many occasions, when preaching about the use of cryptocurrencies I have heard people say "I can pay with my credit card anyway". Of course, I intend to refute this statement by showing the significant advantages of paying using crypto compared to a card, however I also have to mention the one feature where cryptocurrencies have not yet "outperformed" the usual banking transactions and that is that they are simply easier to do.

It is true that to use your digital currencies on a day-to-day basis requires much more than just swiping a card at a point of sale. Having a wallet, complex numeric keys, various authentication and verification methods are just some of the steps. Most people fail only to store their passwords or recovery words securely.

Still, this is what it's all about, whenever a new method appears it takes time to adapt and find the best ways to put them into action, and having said that, let's take a moment to talk about the advantages of paying or transacting using cryptocurrencies instead of a credit card, and maybe question whether it's better to go for the "simpler" option

No limits and expiration dates

          Yes, when going out shopping, reviewing your finances for the month, or going on a trip one of the things we can never miss is to review the basic information on our cards. Are the credit limits on my card what I think they are? Is my card expired? If it is expired when will I get a new one?

Using crypto there are no such limitations, even if a particular exchange has limited transactions these are usually large enough to make any difference. There is no need to check an expiration date or ask for a renewal if we are going to travel and make purchases abroad to avoid going over the limit or charging an expired card.

Pay anywhere

          Every time you are going to use a card it is necessary to ask which issuers accept cards in that store or place. In Europe, places that accept Visa are slightly more common than a MasterCard. American Express is also widely accepted, but as in the United States, it is not always accepted everywhere.

A transaction made with cryptocurrencies can be done person-to-person without the need for an intermediary. In addition, within most exchanges there is the possibility of quickly exchanging one currency for another, having the possibility of having multiple currencies in a matter of minutes.

Keep a safe record

          If you are not sure that you can use it to pay everywhere you will be forced to have more than one credit card and of course, although having several cards avoids the problem of acceptance, you will have to be more attentive to keep all your records. How many times you have paid, how close you are to your limit, ask for the necessary permissions to use all your cards if you travel abroad or know where you have used them to pay.

One of the most brilliant features about cryptocurrencies is that they are backed by blockchain technology, which is, in a nutshell, an infinite, well-organized and very difficult to manipulate or falsify. There is no safer place to store transaction records.

Mary Schwartz