Upstart crypto exchange LVL wants to take on U.S. giants Coinbase and Gemini by removing trading fees.
Announced today, LVL (pronounced “level,” as in playing field) is making its entire service free to use. LVL, which is backed by Morgan Creek Digital’s Anthony Pompliano and Bitcoin advocates Jimmy Song and Willy Woo, previously had no trading fees but only for subscription users.
LVL is also partnering with Mastercard to release two debit cards in early 2021. A standard plastic debit card will be available to free-tier users for a $10 issuing fee, while a metal Mastercard is included with three months of LVL’s Premium service.
The new features come as bitcoin is hitting all-time highs.
“We’ve always been behind a subscription paywall but now we’re just making our entire service free to use,” said LVL CEO Chris Slaughter. “You can buy and sell bitcoin, you can use the plastic debit card. So now in North America, there’s a regulated exchange that’s 100% free to…