Uphold.com bills itself as: the world’s fastest growing platform for moving​ and holding any form of money or commodity, instantly and securely.

They offer the ability to store and transfer between many different government currencies, a number of crypto currencies and even things like gold and silver.  At this time they do not directly support Dash but do accept Bitcoin (1&2), ETH and LTC.

Uphold offers the ability to transfer in crypto and move it to USD. You can then fund a “virtual” Mastercard or move it to a linked checking account.  Since I wanted to spend some Dash  and the service was recommended by a friend I gave it a try.  It is a very well designed site that makes it relatively easy to setup an account.

Again they don’t directly accept Dash but since my default service Coinbase / GDAX doesn’t either I didn’t see any downside to trying something new.

First decision is: are you willing to do the AML/KYC thing – if no stop here – so I sent in pictures of both sides of my DL and was approved in an hour or so.

I found the site aesthetically pleasing and easy to use so I shapeshifted some Dash to LTC (sorry to report) and deposited it into Uphold.  No charge so far.

To move from crypto to a government currency there is a fee – .95% (say 1%) to go from LTC into USD – that is more than double what GDAX charges but not too bad.

The next step after you have USD is to create a virtual Mastercard. That fee stopped me cold – it is a flat 5%.  The good news is it would work in the US but it was too big a fee for me.  Another interesting thing I learned was the list of “prohibited industries” where the virtual card would not work – it seems clear it is for fraud protection – no gas, pawn shops or luxury goods.

If I would have linked a bank account based in USD you can move into or out of that account for no fee.  Basically you are charged a fee anytime you “transfer” from one currency to another – which is fair.

If Uphold were to add Dash as a native crypto-currency and you were looking for a place to buy and sell from any currency it would be a good option.  They stress the “fair” exchange rates they offer – the rate I got “selling” LTC seemed to be good.  They have phone apps, a “pay your friend” for free service and integration into some “cool” apps if those are services you value.  Uphold also stresses they are “not a bank” they have full not fractional reserves.

Uphold offers developers access to their platform API:

Welcome to Uphold’s Open API. Here you’ll find all the documentation you need to help you create revolutionary new services and applications, powered by the Uphold Platform. With your ingenuity, together we can serve the needs of individuals and organizations across the globe and change the financial services ecosystem forever.

Depending on your current needs Uphold may be something to look at.  I expect that Uphold will continue to add new currencies (hopefully Dash) and services.  They have an ATM service in development which seems interesting if the fees are fair.

Conclusion

Uphold appears to be a slick up-and-coming “money” transfer service – “the internet of money”. From my perspective and needs if you already have a major exchange account and local bank there is no real benefit except for the better design. It may work for you now – but if it doesn’t go back in a few months and they may have what you want.