Cash Vouchers – now available to Lite Accounts in the Bitcoin Portal

Canadians can now buy bitcoin with a Bitcoin Well Account using “Cash Vouchers” – a payment rail designed to safely eliminate barriers to first time Bitcoin Well customers.

When you make an account at Bitcoin Well, you can now buy (and sell) bitcoin before you verify your account – we call this a Lite account. This simultaneously helps you preserve your privacy as well as eliminates the risk that your bank will reject or tamper with the transaction. This is a massive win for our customers who value convenience as well as the privacy of their personal information!

The problem?

Currently, Canadians can buy bitcoin with e-Transfer or through the bill payment network in their bank. However, due to the high levels of fraud that the legacy banking system is subject to, both require full identity verification, which includes submitting personal information. We have found that some Canadians prefer to preserve the privacy of their personal information – as they should!  

Further to that, we have found that some banks have been blocking e-Transfers or bill payments legitimately sent out of a bank account when the bank suspects the funds are being sent to buy bitcoin. This is a clear violation of rights, and a blatant attack on independence; something Bitcoin Well exists to combat!

The solution

The Bitcoin Well Ecosystem! We are in a unique position as we have both a Bitcoin Portal that offers an automatic self-custody experience as well as a Bitcoin ATM network across Canada that can process cash. We own the entirety of this infrastructure. This, alongside our mission to enable independence, demands that we employ the two to work alongside each other and produce: Cash Vouchers.

How does it work?

First, you need a Bitcoin Well Account, you can buy bitcoin with either a Lite Account or a fully verified account. You can make an account by confirming your email address and choosing your Welltag (username). Next, you will see a dashboard.

Immediately upon creation, you can choose “Buy” from the sidebar and you will see a screen with a few options; today we’re talking about Cash Vouchers. Add an on-chain or Lightning wallet and then click on GasHVoucher to find a unique QR code. This is what tells our Bitcoin ATMs where to credit the Cash Voucher. 

Next, with your cash and unique Cash Voucher QR Code in hand (which will stay the same by the way, so save it to your favorites in your photos!) you can go to the Bitcoin ATMs that support this function and start to buy your Cash Voucher!

The process is simple:

1. Press “I want Crypto”

2. Select “Bitcoin Well Portal” 

3. Scan your Cash Voucher QR Code

4. Insert cash

Voilà! Like magic, your Cash Voucher will be available in your Bitcoin Well Account within seconds. From there, you can buy bitcoin with your cash vouchers and have it immediately sent to either your on-chain or Lightning wallet of your choosing. On-chain transactions have their blockchain fee covered by Bitcoin Well.

Limits and price

Your Cash Voucher is subject to a 4% fee at the ATM. This means if you put $100 into the ATM, you will have a $96 Cash Voucher credited to your Bitcoin Well Account. 

When you redeem that Cash Voucher, your transaction will have a 3% spread with a Lite Account and a 1.2% spread with a fully verified account. You can read about our rates on our rates page.

Whether or not your account is fully verified, you will be limited to creating Cash Vouchers up to $950. You can buy as many Cash Vouchers as you like in the course of a 24 hour period, as long as they do not accumulate to more than $3,000.  

Once you have Cash Vouchers in your Bitcoin Well Account, your fully verified account can redeem as many Cash Vouchers as long as it is within your existing account limits (you can view these by navigating to “Transaction limits” in the sidebar). Lite Accounts will be able to redeem up to $3,000 in Cash Vouchers per day.

What else can I do with a Lite Bitcoin Well Account?

You can sell bitcoin and pay your bills and credit cards with bitcoin! Of course, you will be subject to your Lite Account's limits and have the same 3% spread applied to your transactions (as opposed to 1.2% for fully verified accounts). Additionally, Lite accounts can also use our Swapper, which allows you to swap bitcoin between on-chain <-> the Lightning Network for zero fees!

Lite accounts enable customers to test out a platform before they subject themselves to handing over confidential and personal information. Our customers can now make sure the Bitcoin Portal meets their needs before they invest their time and effort into fully verifying their account. This is another step towards our mission to enable independence. Thank you for making us a part of your bitcoin journey. 

Stay sovereign 🫡

Adam

About Bitcoin Well

Bitcoin Well exists to enable independence. We do this by coupling the convenience of modern banking, with the benefits of bitcoin. In other words, we want to make it easy to use bitcoin in self custody.  ⁠ ⁠

We are publicly traded (and love when our customers become shareholders!) and hold ourselves to a high standard of enabling life on a bitcoin standard. If you would like to learn more about Bitcoin Well, please visit our website or reach out!