New cryptocurrency exchange promises to bring virtual currencies to everyday purchases

The LBX Dragoncard will be accepted anywhere that takes Visa (so, everywhere)

A new London-based exchange for cryptocurrencies is being opened, offering conversion of pound sterling to a variety of different digital currencies, as well as a pre-paid Visa card (the Dragoncard).

London Block Exchange (LBX) customers will be able to spend their cryptocurrencies anywhere that Visa cards are accepted, it says. Founder Benjamin Dives said, "If a shop accepts Visa, it now accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or Ripple."

The LBX is, it says, the first exchange with a card hosting multiple cryptocurrencies, and the first to convert automatically from pound sterling (it is more standard for cards and trading platforms to convert from Euros to only one currency, such as Bitcoin). Other ‘credible' currencies will be added to the exchange in the future.

Private and institutional investors will be able to use the LBX to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, using a smartphone app and trading interface. Public pre-registrations are open now, and institutional investors will be added by invitation. The founders say that this control of customer flow will enable them to scale ‘a highly robust and secure service'.

Both platform and app are secured by the same systems used by the UK banking system, and comply with financial guidelines such as those around anti-money laundering.

Dives said, "Despite being the financial capital of the world, London is a difficult place for investors to enter and trade in the cryptocurrency market. We'll bring it into the mainstream by removing the barriers to access, and by helping people understand and have confidence in what we believe is the future of money."

He added, "We aim to be the de facto [cryptocurrency] exchange for Britons within six months."