BlockFi is getting ready to launch a bitcoin rewards credit card this year as it continues to build a more complete suite of financial services and draw more consumers into the cryptocurrency market.
The 2-year-old company, which began as a provider of U.S. dollar loans backed by cryptocurrency, launched a high-interest deposit account and trading functionality in 2019. The company sees the card as something that will cater to current crypto investors as well as “non-owners,” founders Zac Prince and Flori Marquez said in an email to clients Wednesday.
“You’ll be able to spend money on your BTC rewards credit card like you normally do, except instead of earning airline miles or cash-back, you’ll be able to earn an industry-leading, BTC cash-back rate on every transaction that you make with the card,” they said.
Companies like BlockFi and the bitcoin-backed rewards app Lolli see the integration of different cryptocurrency products and services alongside traditional financial services as a big driver of mainstream crypto adoption in 2020. Bitcoin itself was created to be a global form of digital cash, but in the West, the adoption of bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies has been focused on investing. Providing a way to easily earn bitcoin without having to actually invest their own money in it — and through everyday behavior and habits they’re already familiar with like swiping a credit card or buying something online with dollars — should lower the barrier to entry for new crypto investors and could make the concept of getting cryptocurrency less intimidating.
“We want to be able to market to people that don’t have cryptocurrency yet,” Prince said in an interview with Cheddar last month. “We want to be a place where they can take that first step into the crypto ecosystem.”
BlockFi raised an $18.3 million in Series A funding round in August from Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Galaxy Digital and ConsenSys Ventures, among others, and has reportedly doubled its valuation over two months since.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
