Fold gives you free Bitcoin on qualifying purchases. It’s a lot like iBotta. It offers a BTC cashback incentive, such as up to 7 percent back when you shop at Banana Republic. It’s not a perfect app, but it’s a perfect addition to the BTC ecommerce community.
At a Glance: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Bitcoin returns on all spending done through the site
- Daily prize wheel
- Earn BTC everywhere with an optional prepaid debit card accepted anywhere VISA is
Cons
- Limited retailers to shop with
- Cashback is earned by purchasing gift cards to popular retailers
- There are activation fees for prepaid debit cards
Fold is accepting new memberships again, so it’s a great time to sign up. Sign up is super easy. I signed up yesterday and made a few purchases on Prime Day. Overall, I believe Fold is a great way to earn passive BTC; however, it’s not without its faults. If you’re interested, I recommend signing up for Fold while you can because the site is known to close itself off to new membership. If you don’t want to shop, you can earn free BTC simply by spinning the daily wheel.
Referral Link: https://use.foldapp.com/r/7TETYJ4Y
Non-Referral Link: https://use.foldapp.com
This review is Part One of Two. I’ll review Fold again when I receive my Spin+ Card.
What is Fold and How Does it Work?
Fold is two things. A shopping app and a prepaid debit card.
The Shopping App
Like iBotta, Swagbucks, or Rakuten, when you shop with the Fold app, you earn bitcoin rewards on qualifying purchases. Right now, there are approximately 50 retailers to shop with.
It works like this: you purchase gift cards from brand name retailers through the app. There are many brands, including Amazon and various clothing stores. My favorite was DoorDash because I earned BTC on purchases I would have made anyway. I made a solid return on Amazon Prime Day too.
Overall, I really like the instant results, but I dislike having to buy gift cards to qualify for the rebate. You must purchase cards in a specific denomination, including Amazon. I purchased two $100 gift cards, one for Amazon and one for DoorDash. I earned approximately 1 percent back in Sats (for a definition of Sats, see the Sats section below). I paid with my debit card, and I feel one percent is not a great return. With traditional fiat cashback sites, you can earn quite a bit more. That being said, traditional fiat doesn’t grow on its own. It requires an investment to grow, whereas BTC is known for massive gains without any effort at all.
I’m going to use Lightning transactions to make Fold purchases in the future, as these are said to net an average of 4 percent cashback. If you’re unfamiliar with Lightning transactions, I included a section on them below.
The Prepaid Debit Cards
The Fold Spin Cards allow you to earn Bitcoin on all your purchases, not just the retailers listed in the app. Fold offers two prepaid debit cards: the basic Spin card and the Spin+ card. Each card has its own fee structure. The basic Spin card is a one-time fee of $21 and the premium Spin+ card costs $150 per year. I opted for the premium Spin+ card, so I will provide a review on that later. The cashback rewards are typically 3 percent on transactions, but I’ll have a better idea of returns when I have one.
How Does Fold Reward Users?
Fold rewards users in three ways: the daily prize wheel, which is a no purchase necessary way to earn free bitcoin, purchasing gift cards through the app, and you can also shop with your optional Fold Spin or Spin+ card earning an average of 3 percent cashback on all your real world or online purchases. The cashback you earn is labeled “Sats,” but rest assured Sats are bitcoin.
What are Sats?
Sats, short for Satoshi, and they’re fractions of bitcoin. One Sat is worth 0.00000001 BTC. The name is clever because it pays homage to Satoshi, who is the elusive founder of bitcoin. You will find your Sats in the upper right-hand corner of the application.
Spinning the Daily Prize Wheel
You can win free Sats when you spin the daily prize wheel. The wheel is among the first things you’ll see when you enter the app, as Fold will prompt you to spin the wheel if you haven't already. Otherwise, it’s located in the upper left-hand corner. Prizes vary and some, such as the ones I’ve won, are not particularly good. What I won required me to purchase something to collect on the bonus. It wasn’t a store I wanted to shop at, so it yielded me nothing. Other prizes are amazing, such as a prize to win one bitcoin and many that include bonus Sats up to 1 million Sats.
Make sure to log in once a day to maintain your streak. At the end of 7 days, you’ll win 1,000 free Sats just for spinning once per day. If you miss a day, the streak resets. You can set permissions to allow Fold to send you notifications reminding you of your daily spin.
Cashback on Your Spending
Next to each retailer, you will find the potential for cashback earnings. For example, next to Amazon.com, it reads “up to 1.5% back.” To see an accurate percentage of cashback, you will need to do one of two things (or both). You need to add a payment method, such as a debit or credit card. Or a crypto wallet capable of Lightning transactions (see below for explanation). Lightning is the better option and one I will be exploring, as it yields higher returns than shopping with a debit or credit card. I averaged a 1 percent return shopping with my debit card. Lightning is said to average a 4 percent return.
Lightning Transactions and How to Use Them on Fold App
The simplest way I can explain Lightning transactions is that they are a private way for two parties to send and receive cryptocurrency. It’s faster than using a service like Coinbase (hence the name Lightning), and there’s little to no fees. On Fold, you can use Lightning transactions to pay for your gift cards and receive greater cashback rewards.
How to setup Lightning Transactions
Guys, I found a great article on Medium that offers the simplest way to set up Lightning transactions: How to Use Lightning with Fold. Skip to the section that’s titled How Do I Use Lightning?
For myself, I downloaded the non-custodial option of Pheonix for Android. I found it by typing in “Phoenix Lightning wallet” into Play Store. I’m excited to fund and shop and will include more information on shopping with Lightning and the Fold Spin+ card in my next review.
Is Fold Safe?
From what I’ve seen? Yes, Fold is safe. The app doesn’t sell your information, and it doesn’t store your bitcoin. It's a safe and effective a great way to earn passive bitcoin on the shopping you already do. The returns aren’t anything write home about, but they’re free and if you shop regularly at their connected stores or are comfortable funding a debit card, it’s one of the easiest ways to earn passive bitcoin.
My Final Thoughts
Fold is a great app and one I will continue to use, but it’s not without its faults. I would have much preferred to visit the retailer’s website, check out there, and have the rebate applied in a few days after the purchase was verified. I’d also have preferred greater cashback percentages; however, it’s not lost on me that my passively earned BTC can increase in value with no effort on my part. As the popularity of Fold grows, it should lead to more brand partnerships, and the ability to use Fold as you would other established cashback rewards sites.
Apps like Fold legitimize cryptocurrency and provide real-world application for the coin, which contributes to incredible gains for those who are holding. Fold is super user-friendly. It’s a great introduction to cryptocurrency for newbies. Those holding BTC are aware that one of the challenges to crypto currency is introducing it to the broader market. Apps like Fold incentivize laymen to use crypto, purchase it for themselves, and ultimately shop with it (or, better, hold it for long-term profit). The adoption of BTC is what leads to massive gains in the value of the coin, so Fold is an application I champion. Plus, I love to shop and earn rewards, and it’s the best looking and safest BTC cashback rewards app available right now.
