Visa and Bitcoin Rewards App Fold Expand Partnership to New Regions

Bitcoin (BTC) rewards app Fold and Visa (V) have expanded their ongoing partnership. The U.S. payments giant will now serve as the exclusive network partner for Fold's prepaid debit products in North America, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, Fold said Thursday.

The bitcoin-friendly shopping app Fold first partnered with Visa in 2020 to issue a debit card offering bitcoin (BTC) rewards instead of traditional reward points, similar to the reward levels you'd expect from a credit card. Fold along with several other companies, including Coinbase (COIN), provide Visa cards that offer bitcoin rewards.

Users have been rewarded over $30 million in bitcoin since the debit card launch but the expanded collaboration comes at a time when the "demand for bitcoin onramps outside the U.S is growing," said Will Reeves, CEO of Fold. Under the new arrangement, Fold and Visa will enter new regions. Plans include empowering existing local financial service companies to launch their own bitcoin rewards through the Fold infrastructure.

Despite the crypto banking crisis and the collapse of entities like the FTX exchange, Visa recently said it remains committed to investing in the crypto sector, after a report claimed otherwise. "We believe that digital currencies will play a role in the future of financial services and money movement," Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa.

Read More: Visa's Crypto Strategy Remains Intact Despite Crypto Winter

CORRECTION (March 31, 2023, 06:40 UTC): Corrects lead to say that Fold has only partnered with Visa on debit products. Updates second paragraph to clarify that Fold didn't follow other companies on bitcoin rewards card.