Slowly but surely, the cryptocurrency industry is heading towards the mainstream adoption it deserves with a new milestone announced today.
Fold, a bitcoin-friendly shopping app has become the first crypto startup to join Visa Fast Track Program and will now launch a Visa co-branded debit card that rewards users with Bitcoin for purchases made with the US dollar.
According to the announcement Thursday, users can earn up to 10% Bitcoin cashback for every dollar purchase made with the new Fold debit card from approved merchants and retailers like Hotels.com, Nike, Taco Bell, Uber, Starbucks, and Airbnb. Interestingly, users can also compound their rewards when they purchase and use gift cards from merchants using the new card.
Fold announced in September last year that it had raised $2.5 million in a funding round led by Craft Ventures, CoinShares, Slow Ventures, and Goldcrest Capital. At that time, the CEO, Will Reeve, said the capital would be used to solidify their partnerships both in the retail and crypto space.
Speaking in an interview today, Reeve said he believes that the new Bitcoin rewards card will help to attract more customers to the crypto industry.
People are not interested in spending Bitcoin right now but are interested in accumulating it. If people don’t understand Bitcoin as money yet, they certainly will understand it as a better reward.
The firm will start shipping its new BTC rewards card from July, but the waiting list is currently open for interested people.
Users can withdrawal their rewards anytime to their on-chain wallet as they will be able to manage everything, from card details to rewards, within the Fold app.
In recent times, Visa has become a payment facilitator in the crypto industry and has partnered with several crypto-related startups to push the mainstream adoption of digital currencies.
While Fold is not the first crypto start to offer a Visa co-branded crypto debit card, the startup’s selling point is unique. Most of the existing Visa cards from companies like Coinbase and Crypto.com focus on allowing users to spend their cryptocurrencies on approved merchants around the world without rewards.