What is the BlockFi Visa Card?

The BlockFi Visa card is a real credit card that provides its users with 1.5% cashback rewards on all purchases. For bitcoin users, the key selling point of the card is that those cashback rewards are denominated in bitcoin. Up to this point, nearly all Visa and Mastercard card offerings related to crypto have been of the debit variety, as the main point of these cards was to allow crypto asset holders to quickly spend the value associated with their holdings anywhere Visa or Mastercard is accepted.

With the BlockFi Visa card, the point is to act like a traditional credit card that is common in the traditional financial system, while also allowing users to accumulate bitcoin via cashback rewards. This card is closely tied into the overall BlockFi banking platform, as the rewards are automatically deposited into a user’s associated BlockFi interest account. It should be noted that many of the finer details around the BlockFi Visa card are still unknown at this time, as the card has yet to launch.

What Are the Benefits of the BlockFi Visa Card?

There are three key benefits of the BlockFi Visa card that are known at this time. First, the 1.5% cashback rewards that come with this credit card offering are denominated in bitcoin. This means that users of the card will effectively be able to stack bitcoin for free whenever they use the card for their day-to-day purchases.

Here’s a look at two more rewards for having a BlockFi visa card:

BlockFi Visa Sign-Up Bonus

Another key benefit of the BlockFi Visa card is the welcome bonus, which provides users with 3.5% bitcoin cashback for the first 90 days. You can earn up to $100 in Bitcoin before it reverts to the regular 1.5% rate.

Keep in mind you’ll need to put roughly $2,800 on your BlockFi Visa card within the first 90 days to get full value on the 3.5% Bitcoin welcome bonus of $100 so plan accordingly.

Linked to BlockFi Account

One last benefit of the BlockFi crypto credit card is that it is linked to BlockFi’s overall suite of crypto banking services.

For example, cashback rewards are instantly deposited to BlockFi interest accounts, which means users can easily earn interest on their newly-acquired bitcoin. Of course the APY on your Bitcoin on BlockFi will also continue to compound so it’s a potentially lucrative loop for customers.

You can always check the updated BlockFi interest rates on their website.

Potential BlockFi Visa Card Dealbreakers

While the BlockFi bitcoin credit card is one of the most anticipated products for the overall cryptocurrency space in 2021, there are still some downsides of this offering that will turn off some potential users.

For one, this is a credit card and not the sort of crypto debit card that most people will be used to seeing in the crypto industry. This means that users of the card will need to pass a credit check before they are able to gain access to the card. Additionally, some crypto users may prefer the ability to convert crypto into spendable cash on a card rather than taking on debt to earn bitcoin rewards.

Another potential dealbreaker with the BlockFi bitcoin Visa card is that the card is still not available. Specifics on fees, availability, and more aspects of the card are also not yet available, and there are a number of other crypto cards already available on the market.

Finally, it should be remembered that BlockFi is essentially a bank, which may go against the philosophical beliefs of many traditional bitcoin users. Operating within the legacy financial system comes with endless regulations, which means cypherpunks will want to avoid this credit card.

Is the BlockFi Visa Card Right for Me?

The BlockFi Visa card is definitely an interesting option for accumulating more bitcoin. It does not operate like most other crypto Visa cards, as the point is more about helping users accumulate bitcoin rather than making their crypto holdings easier to spend in the real world.

Anyone who is looking for a passive way to increase their bitcoin holdings over the long term should definitely consider the possibility of making this credit card their go to option when they’re out on the town.