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Users of electronic cash protocol Bitcoin might soon have another way to access and spend funds...Charlie Shrem...revealed that his company was 6-8 weeks away from launching a Bitcoin-funded international debit / credit card that will be issued by two unnamed major banks: one international and one domestic...the card will function like a regular debit or credit account and should be accepted wherever MasterCard is accepted – virtually everywhere. The first 1,000 cards will be given away for free but after those have been spoken for, expect to pay around $10 for a card.

Paying to use a debit card was unheard of before this year and is still a novel concept for many consumers. But several banks have recently introduced or started testing debit card fees. That's in addition to a spate of other unwelcome changes checking account customers have seen in the past year.

In the language of credit cards, “gold” has long been used to describe a certain level of benefits and consumer protections. Many banks issue Gold Visa or MasterCard credit cards, and American Express features a Gold card in its charge-card lineup.
Soon, “gold” will be used to describe a new type of credit card – but in more literal terms. The Gold Bullion credit card promises to be backed up by the value of your own gold bullion coins. Don’t have any? The company marketing the card can buy them for you at market rates.

Ever since the bitcoin cryptocurrency first launched and achieved initial success, institutional investors and hedge fund managers have secretly sought a regulated investment vehicle for bitcoin placements. Malta-based Exante Ltd. has the solution with their new Bitcoin Fund. “I hope our fund will be the first hedge fund to take advantage of using bitcoins,” explains Managing Partner Anatoliy Knyazev. Exante actually announced the fund in October last year, but they did not make a serious effort to market it.

It seems ironic to have a credit card made of solid gold, but Visa and Sberbank have begun offering a credit card made of solid gold to Sberbank’s top 100 customers in Kazakhstan as a companion card to the Visa Infinite card, hoping to capitalize on what they see as a “growing appetite for elite, status-symbol cards.”

In a sure sign that the virtual currency Bitcoin has hit the mainstream, a new Trojan horse program discovered in the wild Thursday seeks out and steals victims’ Bitcoin wallets, the same way other malware goes for their banking passwords or credit card numbers.

Internet sellers who don't report their sales will no longer be under the radar. Starting next year, any bank or other payment settlement company that processes credit cards, debit cards, and electronic payments such as PayPal will have to issue information returns telling the IRS what merchants receive. The new returns are Form 1099-K, Merchant Card and Third-Party Payments.

Credit cards are no longer being accepted at California medical marijuana dispensaries -- thanks to pressure from the federal government. Someone -- likely the Treasury Department -- has informed credit card companies that they must no longer process credit card transactions involving medical marijuana, according to SF Weekly.

Craig Franco hopes to cash in on Gold currency legalization with his Utah Gold and Silver Depository. His business idea: Store your gold and silver coins in a vault, and Franco issues a debit-like card to make purchases backed by your holdings.