5 Key Facts About the Fold Bitcoin Credit Card

If you’re looking for a credit card that earns cryptocurrency rewards, the selection is fairly limited. One option is the Fold Bitcoin card, issued by Celtic Bank. Fold is a financial technology company, not an insured bank or credit union.

On paper, the Fold Bitcoin card stands out because of its strong earning potential. But reaching its top reward levels requires keeping a significant amount of assets with Fold.

For people who are not fully committed to crypto, the card may not provide enough dependable value to offset the risks that come with cryptocurrency.

Here’s a closer look at the Fold Bitcoin credit card.

1. Fees are limited

The Fold Bitcoin credit card has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee and no penalty APR, which some cards charge after late payments.

That said, late payments are still best avoided because they can hurt your credit scores.

2. Rewards come in Bitcoin

As the name implies, the Fold Bitcoin card gives rewards in Bitcoin, starting at 1.5% back on all purchases. That base rate has no cap.

To earn more than 1.5%, you must have a Fold Reserve account. That is where the structure becomes more complicated — and more costly.

🤓Nerdy Tip

The Fold Bitcoin credit card is different from the Fold Card, which is a prepaid debit card. The Fold debit card also earns Bitcoin rewards. If you have both cards at once, you can only earn boosted rewards above the base rate on one card at a time.

3. Higher rewards require larger balances

Fold says Fold Reserve is not a bank or investment account, but a “closed-loop stored value program.” Your balance can be used to buy Bitcoin and gift cards, and it determines your final rewards rate. There is no fee for having a Fold Reserve account.

As the chart shows, the best rewards are available only if you keep several thousand dollars in a Fold Reserve account, something many people may not be able to do — or may not want to do.

Another important limitation is that rewards above the 1.5% base rate are capped at $5,000 in monthly spending.

You can also earn bonus rewards by setting up bill pay from a Fold checking account. The same spending cap applies to the extra rewards earned through bill payments made with Bitcoin.

For example, if you had $25,000 in your Fold Reserve account and bill pay was set up from your Fold checking account, you would be in Tier 3 in the table above:

• You would earn an additional 0.5% on purchases, bringing the rate from 1.5% to 2%, on up to $5,000 in monthly spending. After that, the rate would return to 1.5% for the rest of the month.

• Because bill pay is also enabled, you would earn 1% on the first $5,000 in bill payments each month.

If that sounds overly complex — and if you do not want to keep tens of thousands of dollars in a Fold Reserve account — the Gemini Credit Card® may be worth a look instead. It offers up to 4% back in select categories, paid in a cryptocurrency of your choice from a list of about 50, and the rates are not tied to any balance requirement.

4. Redemption choices are narrow

Rewards can be redeemed for Bitcoin or gift cards. To cash out, your rewards balance must reach at least 30,000 sats. A sat, short for “satoshi,” is the smallest unit of Bitcoin.

5. You can start using it right away

If you are approved for the Fold Bitcoin card and you use Apple Pay or Google Pay, a virtual version of the card is automatically added to your digital wallet so you can use it immediately.

Samsung Pay support was not yet available at the time of writing.