Written by
Holly D. Johnson
Holly Johnson writes expert content on personal finance, credit cards, loyalty and insurance topics. In addition to writing for Bankrate and CreditCards.com, Johnson does ongoing work for clients that include CNN, Forbes Advisor, LendingTree, Time Magazine and more.
Edited by
Robert Thorpe
Most recently before joining Bankrate, Robert worked as an editor and writer at The Ascent by The Motley Fool, covering a number of personal finance topics, including credit cards, mortgages and loans.
Aug 13, 2024 / 8 min Share on social mediaAt Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money .
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Thanks to a rewards program that lets you earn cryptocurrency, the BlockFi Rewards card offers a low-stakes way to get a taste of the highly volatile crypto market.
Add to compare*The information about the BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
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A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
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Earn 3.5% crypto rewards on all purchases in the first 90 days of card ownership, up to $100 in crypto
3.5% Cryoto Rewards
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Earn 2% back in crypto on every purchase over $30,000 of annual spend. Rewards rate increases from 1.5% to 2% after $30,000 of spend has been achieved and resets on the card anniversary date every year. (effective 7/1), Earn 1.5% back in crypto on every single purchase.
15.74% - 25.74% (Variable)
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Reward Details
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On This Page Jump toThe BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card offers a flat rate of cryptocurrency rewards for each dollar you spend and a higher base rate after you spend at least $30,000 on your card within a cardmember year. There is no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.
While this sleek, metal credit card doesn’t dole out traditional rewards, you get the chance to build up a stash of crypto just for using it for purchases. That makes the BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card very enticing—especially for crypto enthusiasts and even those who want to test the crypto waters without putting their own assets on the line.
While the BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card has plenty going for it, there are some upsides and downsides to be aware of.
Checkmark Rewards can be redeemed for cryptocurrency or stablecoins, which are considered less volatile than cryptocurrency
Checkmark Use your rewards to earn 0.25 percent back on all eligible trades, up to a maximum of $500 each month
Checkmark Since this card is a traditional Visa credit card, you can use it anywhere Visa is accepted worldwide, making it easy to quickly spend your cryptocurrency
You have to spend $30,000 on your credit card each year to get to the 2 percent back rate, yet several cash back credit cards offer this rate from day one
BlockFi only offers a select number of cryptocurrency. This lack of flexibility may disappoint crypto enthusiasts looking for more options when converting their rewards to crypto
Rewards can’t be redeemed for options like paying down your credit card balance Due to regulatory restrictions, New York Residents cannot applyCryptocurrency is a volatile market, so your rewards could decrease substantially in value after you earn them
The card lacks features found with top traditional rewards cards like a sign-up bonus or intro APR offer for purchases or balance transfers
The BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card currently doesn’t offer a sign-up bonus. Until recently, it gave cardmembers the chance to earn an elevated rewards rate of 3.5 percent back for the first 90 days after account opening, up to $100. This type of welcome offer wasn’t as valuable as those found with many of the best rewards credit cards, but it did increase the card’s value and help it stand out from other crypto cards, which typically did not come with sign-up bonuses.
Like other crypto credit cards, you’ll need to open an account with the cryptocurrency exchange that offers the credit card before you can apply for the card. But once you get it and start using it, the BlockFi card earns a respectable flat rate on all purchases, though it takes a considerable amount of spending to earn the highest rate. There are traditional credit cards that earn a higher flat rate or offer bonus categories with higher rates. But these cards lack the convenience of automatically having your rewards converted into your choice of a number of cryptocurrencies.
The BlockFi card earns 1.5 percent back in cryptocurrency on all purchases until you reach $30,000 in spending in a year. Big spenders who can exceed the $30,000 mark in a year will begin to earn 2 percent back. Just keep in mind that the $30,000 spending threshold is required every year you’re a cardmember, which is a major downside. If you manage to spend $30,000 within 9 months of account opening, you would only get 2 percent back in Bitcoin on your purchases for three months before the clock starts over.
Some rewards credit cards offer a higher rate of return without a spending requirement. For example, you could be approved for the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card and earn 2 percent cash rewards on your purchases from day one.
The rewards you earn come in the form of one crypto that you can choose, but you’re limited to the crypto that BlockFi offers in the U.S. which is currently only 15 different crypto. That’s not a large selection compared to its competitors, but being able to choose from that many is more than what BlockFi previously offered. When the card first first hit the market, you could only earn bitcoin as your rewards cryptocurrency. Now, you can choose from a number of the most popular types of crypto, including:
If you’re concerned about the volatility of cryptocurrency, BlockFi’s selection of crypto also includes stablecoins. These are a form of cryptocurrency whose value is tied to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar or gold. This gives stablecoins more stability compared to other cryptocurrencies, which are known for their high volatility. Stablecoin options include:
BlockFi states you can change your cryptocurrency as many times as you like throughout the month. That gives you plenty of flexibility to change your mind about how you’d like to earn rewards. But you will only earn rewards for that month based on the one crypto that is selected at the end of the month.
According to BlockFi, customers will have their crypto rewards deposited in their BlockFi Wallet monthly, on the second Friday of each month. From there, cardholders can move their crypto into their own external crypto wallet.
Up until February 14, 2022, BlockFi users were able to transfer their assets into a BlockFi Interest Account (BIA), which let them earn interest on their crypto deposits. The BIA also let users buy, sell or trade their crypto using a mobile app. But after being charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over failing to register its BIAs as securities, BlockFi agreed to make changes in an effort to bring its company into compliance with the Investment Company Act of 1940 within 60 days. In addition to paying $100 million dollars in penalties, BlockFi agreed to stop offering BIAs. Now, new BlockFi customers are unable to open a BIA. Existing BIA clients get to keep their accounts and receive interest, but are not allowed to add new crypto to their accounts.
The rewards you earn with the BlockFi card are paid out at a value of 1 cent per percentage point. So if your reward rate is 1.5 percent, you’ll earn $1.50 worth of a cryptocurrency for every $100 you spend or $2 worth of crypto for every $100 if you are earning 2 percent. But the actual value of your rewards are tied to the value of the crypto you are holding and its price when you decide to sell. If you have been watching the crypto markets for a while now, you already know that cryptocurrency is highly volatile and can be prone to wild price fluctuations.
As an example, the price of a single bitcoin has ranged from $11,711.51 on August 30, 2020 to $48,829.83 just a year later on August 29, 2021. On January 28, 2021, however, the price of bitcoin came in at $31,649.61.
Since the BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card is not a traditional credit card, it doesn’t get many traditional perks like an intro APR offer or sign-up bonus. The main benefits you’ll want to know about are detailed below.
If you refer others to the BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card with your unique referral link, you get $30 in bitcoin per referral. This benefit can lead to substantial sums in bitcoin if you have a large network of friends or colleagues who might be interested.
You can also earn 0.25 percent back in crypto on all eligible trades you make through BlockFi, up to a maximum of $500 in crypto each month. To max out this benefit, you would need to trade $20,000 in cryptocurrency each month, or $240,000 in trades per year.
The BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card doesn’t charge an annual fee or foreign transaction fees. But if you don’t pay your balance in full each month, you’ll have to watch out for the card’s variable APR of 16.49 percent to 26.49 percent. A couple of other common credit card fees to watch out for include a late payment fee up to $25 and a returned payment fee of up to $37.
Before you sign up for the BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card, you should take the time to compare it to other rewards credit cards. Here’s how it compares to another crypto credit card and a standard cash back credit card.
