UK-based Fintech startup Revolut, which recently raised $250 million at a valuation of $1.7 billion to become one of the fastest tech startups in Europe to reach “unicorn” status, will soon be adding support for Ripple (XRP) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to its cryptocurrency trading service. It is also planning to launch a metal Platinum debit card, within the next three months, that will offer a 1% cryptocurrency cashback.
Revolut, which was founded by Nikolay Storonsky, and Vlad Yatsenko in July 2015 in London, started life as a Fintech company by offering a multi-currency pre-paid debit card managed via a mobile app. Since then, it has expanded its range of services to include cross-border money transfers at Interbank FX rates, free global ATM withdrawals, personal loans, travel insurance, and (most interestingly, from our point of view) cryptocurrency trading.
Late last year, Revolut launched a service called “Revolut Crypto” designed to provide a simple way for its customers — even those with very little previous knowledge of cryptocurrencies — to buy, hold, or sell Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and Etherium (ETH) in a very simple way. Their blog post on the subject promised: “No exchanges. No private keys. No cold storage. Just tap a button and get immediate exposure to Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ether.” There was (and there still is) one serious limitation that makes this service not really suitable for “serious traders” since it does not “allow transfers to external wallets or for customers to transfer their existing crypto to the app.”
This made many Revolut customers who had used cryptocurrency exchanges before get worried. Here is an example from Revolut’s community forum:
My main question would be this; is BTC, LTC, etc. actually being purchased as part of the transaction or are Revolut simply pegging a Fiat deposit to an external exchange rate and enabling a re-conversion to Fiat at a later date?
If Revolut are not actually acquiring any BTC, LTC, etc in all of this it has the potential to create significant liquidity issues for Rev in the event of a dramatic increase in value of any of the cryptocurrencies in question.
However, Revolut’s customer support assured customers that Revolut was buying/selling “real” coins from their crypto exchange partners:
Just to clarify, it’s real crypto – we hold 100% reserves, we buy on your behalf from our exchange partners and your crypto exposure is stored on our internal ledger, where you can manage your crypto within the app.
Ever since the service was launched, customers have been asking for support for additional cryptocurrencies. Originally, Revolut was planning to have support for Ripple (XRP) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) added by the end of April. There is still no clear date on when Bitcoin Cash support will be ready, but as far as XRP support is concerned, earlier today Revolut announced on Twitter that they were “hoping to get it live in the next two weeks.”
But perhaps the even more exciting news is that Revolut is planning to introduce a “Revolut Platinum” service later in the year. According to its blog post on 26 April 2018, Revolut will be “offering a bespoke contactless metal card made entirely from stainless steel and coated with a custom shade of metallic black paint, for a truly unique look.” Earlier today, via an article in Business Insider, we got more details. Revolut’s Platiunum card will be a debit card and it will have a fee (just like the existing Premium service, but presumably higher). This is what Revolut co-founder and CEO Nikolay Storonsky had to say about the card:
In the next three months we’re going to launch Platinum cards — it’s a metallic card that allows you to get 1% cash back in cryptocurrencies and also provides you a concierge service… It gives you the stuff the Premium card gives you but then on top of it you get cash back in cryptocurrencies.
