- Curve, a fintech company focused on bundling credit and debit cards into one digital site, has launched Bitcoin Rewards for purchases.
- Curve allows users to “load” pre-existing credit and debit cards with rewards programs on the Curve app, allowing users to double-dip into earned rewards.
- Users will be able to earn and view rewards and balances in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through the app.
Curve, a financial technology company that specializes in accessing multiple financial services into a single mobile app and digital card, has announced a new Bitcoin rewards program in Bitcoin 2022.
Through the program, Curve users can load an existing credit or debit card and connect it to their Curve card. Connecting to an existing rewards card allows Curve users to “double-dip” rewards and receive bitcoin in addition to their rewards.
CEO, Shahar Bialik, said in a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.
For example, let’s say a Curve customer already has a BlockFi rewards card through Visa that returns 1.5% in cash in the form of bitcoin. If this card is loaded onto the Curve Card digitally, the user will be able to get 3% cashback in Bitcoin on eligible purchases.
“We know that millions of people around the world already own cryptocurrency, but for many, it remains completely anonymous,” Bialik said in the statement. “Curve has evolved to offer a pathway into the cryptocurrency world for the ever-growing cryptocurrency market.”
With a large footprint already in Europe, the Curve app was recently launched in the US and users can join the waiting list to take advantage of the streamlining of all their card rewards cards in one seamless location. Customers will also be able to view their earned bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies in the app, and if customers want to spend their cryptocurrency, they will be able to use the Curve Cash digital wallet.
In an interview with Bitcoin MagazineCEO Shahar Bialik and North America Vice President Amanda Orson confirmed that the project is still in its “crawl” phase, with plenty of room to walk and then run.
“We have to give the masses easy access to the bitcoin system,” Bialik said. “The way we attract them is by giving them something they know.”
“It gets colder the further away we get,” Orson added.
Curve was also presented at the Bitcoin 2022 conference, highlighting what he envisioned as Layer 3 of Bitcoin-based payments. If layer 2 can be considered as data transmission, then layer 3 should be considered as data aggregation in this model. This is where usable data related to the cash system is consolidated and used in one central location to allow users ease and accessibility.
In the case of Curve, this is accomplished by pooling cards and accounts that each user can use, and putting all expendable assets together to reduce the burden of management. Balick honed in on creating the Layer 3 when he addressed the conference crowd, saying;
“We have fought so hard for the past five years to gain access. And we have won.”
But what did they gain? In order to achieve level 3, you must integrate with every player in lLyer 2 to collect their data.
Curve allows its users to link all of their cards, including access to digital wallets and exchanges to spend bitcoin, and builds its envisioned Layer 3 into what Balick calls, “one card to control them all.”
Bitcoin 2022 is part of a series of Bitcoin events hosted by BTC Inc, the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine.