Fold Taps Blackhawk to Bring Bitcoin Gift Cards to Over 400K Retailers

Bitcoin financial services company Fold is working with publicly traded prepaid gift-card provider Blackhawk Network to widen distribution of its BTC gift card, the companies announced Thursday. 

Fold—which began trading publicly on the Nasdaq Composite in February under the ticker FLD—lets customers accrue Bitcoin rewards by using its services. They can also buy BTC through the platform without fees.

"By making Bitcoin available as a gift card, we're opening access to the millions of consumers who already buy, send, and use gift cards," Fold Chairman and CEO Will Reeves said. 

"It's about meeting people where they are and integrating Bitcoin into the financial tools and channels they already understand," he continued, adding that by working with Blackhawk, Bitcoin would find access to the $300 billion U.S. gift card market. 

Fold first debuted its card in May as a way for consumers to give Bitcoin as a gift in a user-friendly format that doesn’t require an understanding of crypto wallets. The initiative reflects the growing efforts of digital asset firms and other companies to provide cryptocurrency-focused services to a wider range of people. 

The card allows people to give people the leading cryptocurrency in physical form. The crypto can then be transferred to wallets. Recipients redeem their gift card through the Fold App and other platforms. Fold said that it was adding online retailers to its network.

Fold's deal with Blackhawk will mean the gift card will be available to potentially over 400,000 shops and e-commerce platforms. A Fold spokesperson told Decrypt that the idea was "to make Bitcoin as accessible and flexible as possible for both new and experienced users." 

Fold is among the few digital assets companies to be publicly traded. Fold last year announced plans to go public via a special purpose acquisition company agreement (SPAC) with FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. The deal valued the firm at $365 million. 

Bloomberg last week reported that Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR was in talks to acquire Blackhawk.

Bitcoin has made increasing inroads with the mainstream after last year's SEC's approval of crypto ETFs. Such funds trade on stock exchanges and allow people to buy shares that track the price of the asset. 

Crypto-friendly President Donald Trump also established a Bitcoin strategic reserve, highlighting the administration's acceptance of the asset.