A friend recently told me about the Fold card and convinced me to get in line to get one. As a heavy user of American Express I didn't have a lot of interest to be honest, but I checked it out anyway.
It is a little confusing at first as it feels like it is for just buying Gift Cards, but once you get past the waiting list you can get a real Visa credit card. Unlike a typical credit card, you actually provide funding ahead of time and spend it via the Visa credit card for rewards. That's where it gets interesting.
Every day you get a free spin on the prize wheel where you can earn Satoshis or additional discounts on gift cards. These spins generally result in a few Satoshis (cents or even a fraction of a cent) but you can ultimately win up to one bitcoin (so far I hear only two people have done this).
Once approved and you get your Fold credit card, you get to spin the wheel after every purchase. Initially I was in line for the card position 92,600. After a couple referrals (2) I moved up to 161 and shortly later got a notification I am able to order my card right a way.
There are currently two plans, $150/year or free. I chose the $150/year plan which I have heard pays off in a few months of use. As someone who uses my credit card for every purchase, I rack up a lot of rewards on my American Express which I can buy gift cards for. Just buy Amazon gift cards for 5% off in the App should cover the $150 fee easily.
The main difference between the paid card and the free one seems to be the amount you can earn per spin. The gold card has a chance (likely slim) to win your entire purchase price back. Another advantage is being able to spin up to 24 hours after making purchase rather than having only a 1 hour window to use your spin. Other than that there isn't a huge difference between the cards you would be fine just using the free card.
There is one caveat you should be aware of, you cannot withdraw your Satohis until you have 50,000 Satoshi in your account. This is around $29 currently and can take a while to earn depending on your luck. You can however spend these Sataoshi on gift cards with 1%-17% discounts. While there are around 30 or so gift cards you can purchase, I found only 4-5 of them interest me, but the Amazon Gift Card for 5% Satoshi back is the clear winner.
I haven't received my card yet, but I do have a virtual card I can use to shop online now. Unfortunately I haven't been able to transfer funds to the card yet as I am waiting for the bank verification deposits.
Outside of the physical card, all of the functionality is found in their mobile app on iOS or Android. Even before being approved for the card, you can purchase cards at at a discount and start getting some free spins. I recommend waiting on purchasing cards until you are approved and fund your card as you get a much better discount using the Fold card to purchase gift cards and you get free spins.
So far I have earned around 4,100 Satoshis ($2.50) by paying the $150 fee for the Gold card, buying a $50 Amazon Gift card for 1% off, and a couple free daily prize wheel spins. I regret buying the $50 gift card initially as it is far less than the 5% I get off on my Amex Black card, so I would recommend waiting until you have your card and can get them for 5%+ off. You can spin even higher discounts like an additional 1% or more on your next gift card.
Once you get through the wait list and have your card, you are not limited to purchasing gift cards, you can use the card anywhere Visa is accepted (everywhere).
How well you do with this card is highly dependent on luck and how well you spin but should match or exceed your current credit card reward system and give you a free way to stack some Satoshis in the mean time. It does seem fun to be able to spin the wheel and win anything from 0.286 cents to 1 BTC every time you make a purchase you are going to do anyway.
You can fund the card using direct deposit, bank transfers, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Cash, and many other ways.
You can check it out at https://foldapp.com
(Not a referral link).
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Interesting. Keep us updated about this.
That is a very interesting concept. I have a feeling we will be seeing more and more cards pop up like this hear and there. Especially as the major carriers continue to embrace crypto. I am still waiting to see if I can get one of the Crytpo.com cards. Those have always intrigued me.
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This card looks very interesting and I would definitely ask for it if I didn't live in Venezuela, since here you can't use it at any merchant. At least I already know about it in case I move to another country someday (that's my plan).
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Wow that's nice
Your post was promoted by @tfranzini
I have been using the app for a while but I haven't bought any gift cards yet. I was just spinning daily for the extra sats but I didn't know it required 50k sats to withdraw. I guess it will be a long while till I can get it.
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This interesting, let alone a chance to earn 1 BTC. Great if you can win it @themarkymark :) 😅
This does look a lot better than the average credit card :) ... Can you also fund it directly with crypto?
Unfortunately not, not directly.
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I still thank you! This information might be just what I need to get some reluctant people interested in crypto. Anything we can do to help move things along towards mass adoption is a good thing.
Sounds like a very fun card to use. Would not have known about it, so thanks for sharing. However I don't think I'll be using that anytime soon here in Thailand where still, cash is king! haha Have a great day!