You can absolutely still use a Visa branded debit card to purchase Bitcoin. This comparison is asinine, and I'd expect nothing less from the New York Times.
That's my title, not the NYT's. Here's what the NYT says: To be clear: Those three banks won’t let you use your credit card to buy Bitcoin, but they will happily let you use it to buy an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle — the same kind of gun used in mass shootings in Parkland; Newtown, Conn.; San Bernardino, Calif.; Las Vegas; and Sutherland Springs, Tex. And while yo can use a debit card for now, there's nothing preventing them from changing that.There is precedent for credit card issuers to ban the purchase of completely legal products. Just this month, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America banned the use of their cards to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.