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Fold Q4 Revenue Up as CEO Sees Bitcoin Rewards Overtake Air Miles

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Crypto Breaking News

Fold, the Bitcoin-focused payments and financial services firm, delivered an 8% sequential revenue gain in Q4, reaching $9 million as it added roughly 2,000 customers and expanded an array of products designed to weave Bitcoin rewards into everyday spending. The company also rolled out its Fold Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card, a Visa– and Stripe-enabled offering that promises Bitcoin-backed cashback to users and points toward broader consumer adoption of crypto-native rewards.

During Fold’s Q4 and 2025 full-year earnings call, CEO Will Reeves framed the results within a longer-term outlook: “Bitcoin rewards will overtake the airline miles as the preferred consumer reward in the US.” He emphasized that for this vision to translate into mass adoption, the card programs must scale to millions of cardholders and be supported by stronger risk and fraud controls before the model can really “open the floodgates.”

Fold’s earnings also underscore the competitive landscape in crypto rewards. With rivals including Coinbase, Gemini, Swan Bitcoin and River Financial already piloting Bitcoin-backed card programs in the US, Fold is betting on scale and product breadth to capture a larger share of a nascent but rapidly evolving market.

Nevertheless, the quarterly improvement did not erase a tough year on the metrics side. Fold reported a 3% year-over-year decline in transaction volume to $215 million, and an operating loss of $6 million for the period. Those figures contributed to a full-year 2025 net loss of $69.6 million, according to Fold’s financial statements. The company said the results reflect ongoing investments to build out a Bitcoin-native financial services ecosystem across multiple product lines, including consumer and enterprise offerings.

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In a nod to its evolving capital structure, Reeves noted that Fold had extinguished two outstanding convertible debt instruments, describing the move as removing a structural overhang and directing financing toward growth initiatives rather than debt management. He outlined a plan for 2026 built around customer acquisition, engagement, cross-sell, and retention—the core levers the company believes will scale its Bitcoin-focused platform.

Beyond consumer products, Fold has been building a broader ecosystem around Bitcoin payrolls, bonuses, and corporate financial programs through Fold for Business. One notable partner cited by Fold is Steak ’n Shake, which has explored paying employees in Bitcoin and offering Bitcoin-based bonuses as part of its compensation mix. This line of effort reflects Fold’s strategy to embed Bitcoin more deeply into corporate payroll and benefits workflows, broadening the utility of the token beyond speculative holding into everyday financial operations.

On the balance sheet side, Fold has pursued a strategy of maintaining a Bitcoin treasury as a strategic asset. Yet the company has been reducing its holdings, with its treasury down to 827 BTC as of March 17, from 1,527 BTC at the end of last year. The reduction mirrors a broader trend of concentrated crypto treasuries being deployed for operating needs or risk management, and it adds a layer of complexity for investors watching Fold’s capital efficiency and liquidity alongside its growth ambitions.

Key takeaways

  • Q4 revenue rises 8% to $9 million as Fold adds about 2,000 customers and expands Bitcoin-linked products, including a newly launched Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card.
  • CEO Will Reeves frames Bitcoin rewards as a potential US consumer reward leader, contingent on scaling to millions of cardholders and tightening risk controls.
  • Strategic shifts accompany growth: Fold extinguishes two convertible debt instruments to reduce financial overhang and focuses 2026 on scaling customer engagement and cross-sell opportunities.
  • Financials show a divide between growth investments and bottom-line pressure: 2025 saw a 3% YoY drop in transaction volume to $215 million and a net loss of $69.6 million, despite revenue gains.

Fold’s expansion into Bitcoin rewards and enterprise tooling

With the Fold Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card now live, the company is aiming to convert consumer spending into Bitcoin accrual at a scale that could rival existing reward ecosystems. The card’s integration with Visa and Stripe signals an attempt to remove friction for mainstream users who want crypto rewards alongside familiar payment rails. Reeves stressed that a successful rollout hinges on risk and fraud controls that can withstand mass adoption, hinting at a compliance-first approach as a prerequisite to broader consumer rollout.

Fold’s product suite has grown beyond consumer cards. Fold for Business is designed to bring Bitcoin into payrolls, bonuses, and corporate programs, signaling a push to embed Bitcoin rewards into business workflows. Partnerships such as Steak ’n Shake illustrate a real-world test bed for how crypto incentives can translate into employee compensation and consumer engagement, a pattern other operators are watching closely as a potential model for corporate crypto compensation programs.

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The competitive backdrop adds urgency. Fold sits among a growing cadre of platforms experimenting with Bitcoin-friendly cards and rewards structures, as consumer interest in crypto-backed perks persists even as the macro environment remains uncertain. The broader market’s willingness to embrace Bitcoin rewards will hinge on the reliability of issuers’ risk controls, the efficacy of KYC/AML processes, and merchants’ willingness to participate in crypto-native cashback arrangements.

Financials in focus: growth, losses, and a restructured balance sheet

On the surface, Fold’s Q4 and full-year results underline a company investing aggressively to build a broader, Bitcoin-native financial services stack. Revenue rose by 8% in the quarter, aided by new customer acquisitions and product expansion. Yet the year delivered pressure on the top line’s profitability. The company reported a 3% YoY decline in transaction volume to $215 million and an operating loss of $6 million for the period, contributing to a full-year net loss of $69.6 million for 2025.

Corporate leadership framed these numbers as the cost of building a platform tuned for scale. The extinguishment of two convertible debt instruments was presented as a turning point, eliminating a structural overhang and steering capital toward operating growth rather than financing costs. In Reeves’ words, the pathway to 2026 centers on “scaling what we’ve built across customer acquisition, engagement, cross-sell, and retention.”

From an investor relations perspective, the balance between growth investments and financial discipline remains a watch item. Fold’s ability to translate product expansion into durable, cross-sell-driven revenue will be critical, particularly as it expands into enterprise services and payroll-related offerings that could yield higher-margin revenue streams if customer adoption aligns with retention targets.

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Bitcoin treasury dynamics and market reception

One notable tension in Fold’s narrative is its shrinking Bitcoin treasury. The firm’s holdings declined to 827 BTC by March 17, from 1,527 BTC at year-end, a move that has implications for both liquidity and crypto exposure management. For a company whose value proposition centers on Bitcoin-native financial services, treasury management will remain a focal point for investors who monitor balance sheet discipline alongside growth metrics.

Fold’s stock has experienced significant volatility in 2026. Data from Google Finance shows FLD down 59% year-to-date and 83.8% over the last 12 months. The company reported an after-hours surge of about 13% following earnings, only to retreat and trade around $1.07 in the subsequent session, underscoring the market’s sensitivity to both operational updates and the broader crypto funding environment.

Against this backdrop, Fold’s emphasis on Bitcoin as both an asset and a core enabler of product strategy resonates with a broader market narrative: if consumer demand for crypto rewards can be monetized at scale, a few high-quality, risk-managed programs could begin to shift mainstream consumer behavior toward crypto-augmented spending. Yet the path remains contingent on execution, risk controls, and the pace at which enterprise and consumer adoption outstrip ongoing losses.

Broader implications for crypto rewards and the consumer fintech landscape

Fold’s quarter signals a broader industry testing ground: can Bitcoin-powered rewards move from a niche product to a mainstream consumer feature? Reeves’ assertion that Bitcoin rewards could overtake airline miles points to a potential realignment of reward economics, but it requires durable merchant participation, transparent risk management, and predictable redemption dynamics. The presence of established players in the space suggests that competition will intensify, compelling Fold to demonstrate superior value through cross-sell, retention, and merchant partnerships.

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Regulatory and macro factors will also shape the trajectory. As crypto-native financial services mature, issuers will need to navigate evolving oversight around consumer protections, data security, and anti-fraud controls. Fold’s emphasis on building a compliant, scalable backbone could position it favorably if it can align product milestones with rigorous risk management, especially as it expands Fold for Business and enterprise-facing offerings that bring Bitcoin into everyday corporate workflows.

In this evolving landscape, investors will be watching not only the headline revenue gains but also the quality of growth: how quickly Fold can transform user acquisition into durable engagement, how efficiently it can monetize via cross-sell across product lines, and whether treasury management can support a sustainable capital structure during an era of rapid product experimentation in crypto rewards.

For readers, the coming months will reveal how a Bitcoin-native financial services ecosystem can translate ambition into measurable scale. Watch for quarterly updates on customer growth, card activation and spend, enterprise adoption of Fold for Business, and any further refinements to risk and fraud controls that could unlock broader consumer uptake.

What remains uncertain is how quickly the market will normalize around crypto-native rewards as a mainstream consumer feature and how Fold’s strategic pivots translate into profitability. If the company can demonstrate that its product suite yields meaningful cross-sell momentum and improved capital efficiency in 2026, the roadmap may start to look less like a bet on early adopter enthusiasm and more like a blueprint for a durable, Bitcoin-centered fintech platform.

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Looking ahead, Fold’s path will hinge on its ability to scale its card program, strengthen risk frameworks, and convert enterprise engagements into recurring revenue while maintaining prudent treasury management. The coming quarters should reveal whether the “Bitcoin-native” advantage can translate into durable, broad-based adoption or remain a defining but contested niche in the crypto rewards landscape.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

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Nasdaq wins SEC approval to trial tokenized stock trading

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Nasdaq wins SEC approval to trial tokenized stock trading

Nasdaq has received approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to proceed with its tokenized equities pilot.

Summary

  • Nasdaq received SEC approval to launch a pilot allowing select participants to trade and settle equities in tokenized form alongside traditional shares.
  • The pilot is limited to securities within the Russell 1000 and major index linked ETFs, with tokenized shares carrying the same rights and pricing as standard equities.

According to the SEC’s approval filing, Nasdaq can now move ahead with “eligible participants” choosing to trade securities in either traditional or tokenized form on the same platform.

Tokenization involves representing real-world assets as digital tokens on blockchain infrastructure, allowing for more efficient settlement and extended market functionality.

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Per previous coverage, Nasdaq first filed its proposal in September to enable trading of high-volume stocks in either a traditional format or as tokenized versions within the same exchange environment.

At the time, CEO Tal Cohen said the model can shorten settlement cycles and improve processes such as proxy voting, while maintaining investor protections.

The SEC has limited the pilot to securities in the Russell 1000 Index, which tracks the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S., along with exchange-traded funds tracking the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices.

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According to the filing, there were concerns around market surveillance and potential pricing discrepancies during the review process. The commission said these were addressed through amendments that clarified safeguards.

Nasdaq has also partnered with crypto exchange Kraken, along with tokenization platform Backed, to build infrastructure that would allow public companies to create and issue tokenized shares.

Wednesday’s approval follows growing demand for tokenized assets from both crypto firms and traditional financial institutions seeking to modernize market infrastructure.

The SEC has also authorized the DTCC to pilot tokenization initiatives, while the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company Intercontinental Exchange has backed a project with OKX to launch tokenized stocks.

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Crypto Traders Eye ‘Bullish Relief Rally’ After Fed Interest Rate Hold

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Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Price, Adoption

Crypto traders have become hopeful for a market rally after the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, according to crypto sentiment platform Santiment.

However, analysts are split on whether a near-term market surge is a reliable signal for traders.

“For now, traders are expecting a bullish relief rally in spite of no changes being made,” Santiment said in an X post on Wednesday, pointing to an increase in bullish sentiment among crypto market participants on social media who are linking the Fed’s steady rates to a potential crypto rally.

The social media discussion score surged from roughly 9 to 71 in the hours after the Fed’s “expected outcome” on Wednesday to hold rates steady at 3.5-3.75%

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Fed policy is a strong catalyst for Bitcoiners

“This is likely due to the fact that the bearish price action related to the lack of cuts already occurred yesterday,” Santiment said.

Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Price, Adoption
Bitcoin is up 3.56% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap

Fed policy has historically been a major catalyst for optimism among crypto market participants, with traders eyeing rate cuts in 2025 as a signal for a possible bull year for Bitcoin. 

However, a pause in rates can increase expectations that cuts could come next.

Several analysts said they are expecting a crypto rally, but they are divided on how long it could last.

“Bull trap” may be on the horizon

Bitcoin (BTC) onchain analyst Willy Woo recently warned that a potential “bull trap” may be forming, a false signal that Bitcoin is entering an uptrend before reversing lower.

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Bitcoin has fallen 4.35% over the past 24 hours, trading at $70,790 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Meanwhile, crypto analyst Matthew Hyland said that Bitcoin and the broader crypto market will “see a significant rally” once the stock market finds its low and rebounds. The S&P 500 has fallen 3.73% over the past 30 days, according to Google Finance.

Echoing a similar sentiment, crypto trader Moustache said in an X post on Monday, “What you’ll see in the coming months is a massive rally.”

Related: ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ author says ‘pin is near’ on TradFi ‘bubble burst:’ Predicts $750K Bitcoin

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Other indicators suggest that crypto investors are still taking a cautious approach to the market.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall crypto market sentiment, fell back into “Extreme Fear” territory on Wednesday, after briefly moving up into “Fear” the day prior.

Magazine: Big Questions: Can Bitcoin save you from the dreaded Cantillon Effect?