Cryptocurrency support would be nice. I understand why that's not going to happen, but if a local bank supported crypto, I might be tempted to open an account.
I've often heard that problems with banks and private , centralized control of wealth is one of the fundamental reasons for cryptocurrency.
I'm genuinely curious, what cryptocurrency related services would you want a bank to provide? And, related, what do you expect or hope to be using that cryptocurrency for?
It would be nice if I could buy cryptocurrency with my account funds, and for it to be protected/insured while it was in the bank's wallet. The ability to transfer in and out, etc. The ability to make debits against a cryptocurrency balance, etc.
I use robinhood at the moment. If robinhood was able to act more like a bank, and supported transferring cryptocurrency in and out, then it would basically be what I was looking for.
In the past I've just used coinbase/poloniex, and I just transfer to my wallets. I currently use bitcoin to buy domains on namecheap, and I use purse.io to buy stuff from amazon - but I can see myself using it for a lot more in the future.
There may not be a lot of demand for it, but like I said, if local banks started offering these services it would get my attention.
It sounds like all the same protections and uses you get with USD. I get the impression Coinbase may be moving in that direction if they haven't already.
What advantages over USD are there for using bitcoin to buy domains or items from amazon?
Not sure if there's any specific advantages, but I still prefer to use bitcoin when I can - just feels good. It's nice to be able to buy stuff from amazon without an amazon account though, although that has more to do with purse.io than bitcoin.
I guess N26 already does it or will soon as they and Revolut copy each other on features as fast as possible (to such minute details as the card design itself)
As far as I know, revolut does not offer full support for cryptocurrencies. When you buy a cryptocurrency from revolut, you get an IOU. In other words, you can use revolut to invest in a cryptocurrency, but you can not actually use the cryptocurrency you have in your wallet to buy something.
Also, the exchange rate is a tiny bit worse than the major exchanges. The real service revolut offers here is an incredibly easy way to invest in cryptocurrencies, for people who do not want to deal with the friction of getting real cryptos.
