Visa Inc
In April, Visa partnered with the startup Fold for a bitcoin rewards program on a Visa-branded debit card. As much as 10% of a user's purchases would be returned to them in the form of bitcoin. This potentially lucrative offering could attract crypto-savvy consumers and serves as a sign of the growing adoption of cryptocurrency by mainstream commercial interests.
Visa's newest offering is a credit card created in partnership with BlockFi. Users of the new card will get up to 1.5% of their purchases in bitcoin but will receive a $250 bonus if they manage to spend $3,000 in the first three months of the card being issued. The card comes with a $200 annual fee, but other fees and the card's APR have not been made public yet.
Bitcoin accumulated by users will be placed into a BlockFi account at the end of every month, and like any standard bitcoin account with the startup, the bitcoin can be freely spent, traded, or even used as collateral towards a loan.
2020 has been a banner year for bitcoin as more companies adapt cryptocurrency into their practices. Bitcoin trading has also become far more lucrative, as evident in this year's rally that saw North American markets eclipse Asian markets. The rally reflects a growing interest in bitcoin trading among American investors, which drove the recent rally and helped land bitcoin to record heights on Tuesday.
"The sudden influx of institutional interest from the North American region is driving a shift in bitcoin trading, which is rebalancing asset allocations across different exchanges and platforms," said Ciar Sun of Huboi Global Markets.
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-01/visa-joins-with-startup-blockfi-for-bitcoin-rewards-credit-card
- https://www.cnbc.com/select/visa-backs-first-credit-card-to-offer-bitcoin-rewards/#:~:text=Visa%20and%20BlockFi%20partnered%20to
- card%20to%20offer%20Bitcoin%20rewards.&text=Cardholders%20will%20earn%201.5%25%20cash
- a%20BlockFi%20account%20every%20month.
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-insight/how-american-investors-are-gobbling-up-booming-bitcoin-idUSKBN28D0Q5?source=content_type%3Areact%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews%7Csection%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-09/visa-teams-with-startup-fold-for-bitcoin-rewards-on-new-card