A few months ago I wrote an article talking about the upcoming BlockFi Bitcoin credit card. And at the time I wasn't sure what to think about it. It is the first of its kind, a real credit card that gives you rewards back in bitcoin. There are other cards out there on the market, but up until this point they have all been debit cards.
This is a product line that I have been wanting for quite a long time. The opportunity to earn a little extra BTC every time you make a purchase is a great way to continue to stack those Sats and work your way towards financial freedom. And who knows; in the future those BTC rewards back that you received could actually become more valuable than the cost of the item that you purchased.
But what did I think about the card back then? I thought it was below average. The reward rates weren't anything special, but the real kicker was that there was a $200 annual fee just to use the credit card. In many cases that annual fee would equal to be a larger amount than the BTC rewards an average user would receive throughout the year. BlockFi tried to downplay this by offering a sign-up bonus that would essentially erase that fee, but you had to spend a few thousand dollars just to qualify. This fact turned quite a few people off. Then other competitor cards began showing up. Gemini unveiled a Bitcoin rewards back credit card that was pretty much exactly the same as what BlockFi was going to offer, but they didn't charge an annual fee to use the card. At that moment the card had almost died.
But fast forward to today and BlockFi came out with some wonderful news. They decided to finally drop the annual fee, meaning that the card will be free to use. (Aside from paying for your purchases of course). They did decide to do away the sign-up bonus that required you to spend thousands of dollars just to qualify for, but I feel this is for the best. This decision will help more people in the long run, and also make the card more viable for most people.
While the reward rates aren't the highest that you will ever find for a credit card; I feel they are respectable. And they are offered in bitcoin, which has seen an annual increase in value of over 200% on an annual basis. The rewards go as follows;
1) earn 1.5% in bitcoin on every purchase
2) Earn 2% back in bitcoin on every purchase over $50,000 on annual spending
3) Earn 3.5% back in bitcoin during your first 3 months of card ownership
4) No fees to use the card. No annual fee. No foreign transaction fee.
Not only are they offering rewards for using the credit card, but they will also be giving bonuses to the credit card users who also use the BlockFi service.
1) You can earn crypto interest on your bitcoin rewards.
2) 2%APY bonus in bitcoin on your stable coin holdings
3) Trading bonus 0.25% back in bitcoin on all eligible trades
4) $30 in bitcoin for every client referral on top of the base refer-a friend program.
So what about me?
Well as I mentioned before, I was very lukewarm on this card in the previous months and had decided that it wasn't worth using, and wouldn't sign up. But this recent news has completely changed my opinion on the BlockFi credit card and have decided to sign-up. I already use a credit card for daily purchases that I immediately pay off; so I might as well use the BlockFi credit card to help accumulate bitcoin while I'm at it. Also, with me often living/traveling overseas, the no foreign transaction fee was an important inclusion as well. But of course the most important issue was the annual fee. I'm looking forward to the day that my card will arrive and I can begin earning that passive BTC income.
You Can Sign Up Here For The BlockFi Credit Card!
How about you? Did this recent news make the BlockFi credit card more appealing for you? Are you going to sign up for it?
As always, thank you for reading!
