Wave spaceA new Bitcoin bank serving the Eurozone has announced MiCA compliance for its “self-custodial” debit card. The fintech startup is at the forefront of Bitcoin payments technology in Europe, with support for the accelerator network and automatic self-saver DCA.
Debit cards in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry traditionally work by preloading custodial accounts with Bitcoin or stablecoins. The preload process was typically done on-chain, took time to settle and required manual input from the user to send from self-wallets or cold storage. If the pre-loaded balance on the card runs out, it will not be possible to spend.
Wavespace’s self-custodial debit card solves these problems using a new Bitcoin technology called Nostr Wallet Connect, or NWC for short. This protocol is documented in NEP-47allows users to connect a service such as this debit card to a self-hosted Lightning node. The user sets a minimum balance, say $200, and each time the user spends from the card through the VISA network, Wavespace withdraws funds from the user’s self-deposit wallet to top up the card. This process reduces custodial exchange risk while maximizing user exposure to the asset and automating the friction of spending Bitcoin.
NWC is a technology developed by Our ecosystema high-tech niche in the Bitcoin industry that is branching out into social media and other communication protocols.
Wavebase Newbank
As a high-tech neobank, Wavespace provides users with a personal IBAN account, which they can send fiat currencies to to buy Bitcoin. Their automated DCA services can be set up to withdraw Bitcoin upon purchase to a specific Bitcoin address.
The company is Compatible with MICAMaking it one of the few remaining Bitcoin exchanges in Europe, where complex crypto regulations have come online.
On the privacy front, Wavespace’s deep integration of the Lightning Network allows the user to access the banking system in a clear and compliant way, without exposing all their payment data on the Bitcoin blockchain. Because Lightning payments are done off-chain, there is no single public record that leaks user data; Instead, transactions move across payment channels between different user services, without leaving any clear public trace. The result is an increasing compromise between the high privacy and cypherpunk values that created the bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry, while also opening up access to the legacy financial system and compatible integration with highly regulated regions like Europe.
In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Eivydas Račkauskas, Head of Orange Pill Provider at Wavespace, said that 70% of payments made on the platform use the Lightning Network and that the company is looking into the matter. ARC Protocol For more self-custody oriented payments integrations. He also revealed that the company is integrated with Lightspark and is ready to expand into the USA, although he did not reveal further details on this matter.
Wavespace has been almost entirely funded and self-funded, according to Račkauskas, except for an early start relay Angel investor who backed them in 2025. They are currently in the middle of another fundraising round.
