Update 12/01/20: BlockFi is stating the card will be released in early 2021. A waitlist is available, but the card doesn’t look too exciting at a 1.5% earn rate (plus a substantial annual fee).
Contents
December 2020 Update
From this Coindesk article, pulled out the follow specs:
- 1.5% rewards rate (in Bitcoin)
- $200 annual fee
- $250 signup bonus with $3,000 of spend
- Visa Card issued by Evolve Bank & Trust
Not sure if other benefits will be included, but at this point the card looks like a quite weak offering. Many 2% rewards cards exist in the market with no annual fees (Citi DC, Fidelity Visa, …) [and some offer higher rates like the Discover Miles IT 3% in the first year] – you would get more BTC (if desired) by purchasing it with the cashback earned on those cards.
The Announcement
BlockFi has announced that they plan to release a Bitcoin earning credit card in the second half of 2020.
Card Details
Nearly no details provided, other than:
- the plan to make the cash back (bitcoin back) rate competitive with other prime cards in the market (Chase Sapphire Reserve and Citi Double Cash are specifically mentioned).
Our Verdict
Of course the value of the card will depend on the to be released card details.
But in the meantime, I’ll fill out this section with speculation and analysis 🙂
Will the Card Arrive in 2020? [Don’t Know]
The idea of a crypto rewards earning credit card isn’t new. Blockrize began working on a similar project prior to March 2018, but as of March 2020 it doesn’t look like they’ve launched a card. So I must assume the challenges (operational, regulatory, … ) to launching a crypto reward credit card are fairly significant. [As an aside, I can’t wait for the Weird Card Wednesday series to come off hiatus!]
Will BlockFi successfully launch a Bitcoin rewards earning credit card in 2020? I don’t know. But BlockFi has had success with their crypto interest earning account, and the company has raised a significant amount of money (with a $30M series B in February 2020). So I wouldn’t bet against them.
What will the reward earning structure look like? [Don’t Know]
A rewards rate equal to other prime credit cards could be interesting, but again it all depends on the details.
For instance, the two referenced cards the CITI Double Cash card (with its flat 2% rewards rate [plus TYP conversion] and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (with its category and travel redemption bonuses) are quite different cards from a rewards perspective before considering annual fees, cards benefits, and signup bonuses. Even the choice of credit card network (Mastercard, Visa, …) could have implications to some DoC readers.
Earning rewards in Bitcoin will also come with additional volatility (vs. USD) [and potential tax reporting on the price movement]. The volatility might not be all bad, as at least there’s the chance of BTC price appreciation in comparison to what seems like only devaluation from corporate miles and points systems. But as always the value of the rewards earned (Bitcoin or other) should be better than those that could be earned from your best cash back rewards card, or it’s better to earn the rewards in cash (and then buy Bitcoin if you like).
Crypto Earning Credit Card Competitors [Not Sure]
A number of companies have launched crypto reward debit cards [Crypto.com’s MCO visa card comes first to mind], but BlockFi plans to launch the first crypto rewards credit card.
A google search to fact check didn’t clearly identify any competitors with an active crypto rewards credit card within the US market, but if you are aware of any active/or in development crypto reward credit cards, we would be interested to learn about it in the comments below.
Final Thoughts
Will the BlockFi Bitcoin Rewards Credit card add value to the space? I’m not sure. But as always we’ll continue to follow financial technology and the ensuing promotions looking for the next deal.
Lambo or Crown Vic … it could be a deal.
With near certainty we won’t advise you to “unbank yourself” anytime soon … overbank yourself … overbank yourself many times over!
