Bitcoin (BTC) rewards app Fold and Visa (V) have expanded their partnership. Fold announced Thursday that the U.S. payments behemoth would be the exclusive network partner for its prepaid debit and credit products in North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Fold had followed in the footsteps of several other companies, including Coinbase (COIN), that offered Bitcoin-reward Visa cards. In 2020, Fold worked with Visa to make a debit card that gives bitcoin (BTC) rewards instead of traditional reward points, similar to how credit card reward levels work.
According to Will Reeves, CEO of Fold, since the introduction of the debit card, users have been rewarded over $30 million in bitcoin. Still, the expanded collaboration comes when the demand for bitcoin onramps outside the U.S. grows. Under the terms of the new agreement, Fold and Visa will access new geographies. Plans include letting local financial service providers use the infrastructure of Fold to start their bitcoin rewards.
Visa recently said that, despite the crypto banking crisis and the failure of companies like the FTX exchange, it still plans to invest in the crypto sector; yet, a report said otherwise. Cuy Sheffield, director of the crypto group at Visa, believes that digital currencies will play a role in the future of financial services and money transfer.