Credit card offering Bitcoin rewards! BlockFi hires former American Express executive, credit card expected to launch by the end of the year

The cryptocurrency asset lending platform BlockFi continues to expand its team. In a personnel announcement on the 5th, two outstanding executives from the traditional financial sector have joined the company. They are Whitney Rachlin, former Vice President of American Express, and David Olsson, former Director at Credit Suisse. Rachlin will serve as the Chief Operating Officer and lead the launch of a Bitcoin credit card, while Olsson will focus on institutional business.

• Recruitment of executives from cryptocurrency exchanges and traditional finance
• Launch of a credit card that replaces cashback with Bitcoin

Layout of Cryptocurrency Credit Card Business

BlockFi is a centralized cryptocurrency lending platform supported by the custody mechanisms of the Winklevoss brothers' Gemini exchange and the established custodian BitGo. It supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, as well as stablecoins USDC, GUSD, PAX, and offers lending rates ranging from 3.8% to 8.6%.

BlockFi first completed a $30 million strategic funding round in February of this year, and in the midst of the crypto market collapse in March, announced an increase in lending rates for Bitcoin and Ethereum (6% and 4.5% respectively). The aggressive move of hiring a former American Express executive also indicates that BlockFi is not far from launching a Bitcoin rewards credit card.

On the 5th, BlockFi announced on its official blog that it has appointed former American Express Vice President Wittney Rachlin as Chief Growth Officer. Rachlin has previously worked at American Express for 12 years and has achieved performance levels equivalent to 20% of American Express' total billings, suggesting that BlockFi may be leveraging her experience for credit card issuance.

Former Credit Suisse director David Olsson has been appointed as Global Managing Director for BlockFi's European and Asian markets, focusing on BlockFi's institutional business.

Credit Card Trials Expected in the Fourth Quarter

In addition, BlockFi also announced three new directors, namely Rob Margolis from trading platform LedgerX, Mitch Port from exchange Kraken, and Dylan Stigliano from US credit card startup Petal.

BlockFi CEO Zac Prince stated:

Cryptocurrencies are increasingly maturing in the financial services sector, and today we can see a clear turning point where traditional finance is about to be overtaken by the digital economy. We are excited to build a world-class team to drive these developments.

BlockFi claims that since starting lending in January 2018, even in situations of sharp price fluctuations, BlockFi manages over $800 million in crypto assets with a loan portfolio loss rate of 0%.

The company plans to launch a Bitcoin rewards credit card in the fourth quarter of this year, replacing cashback with Bitcoin rewards on the credit card to reach users who do not currently hold cryptocurrencies and expand into global markets.