Fold secures $150M credit facility to scale Bitcoin rewards credit card program

The NASDAQ-listed fintech tapped Encina Lender Finance for a four-year revolving credit line backed by consumer credit card receivables, avoiding equity dilution as it rolls out a Visa card offering up to 4% back in Bitcoin.

Share

Add us on Google by Editorial Team May. 27, 2026

Fold Holdings just locked in $150 million in credit to do something deceptively simple: give people Bitcoin every time they swipe a credit card. The publicly traded fintech secured a four-year senior secured revolving credit facility from Encina Lender Finance, backed by its consumer credit card receivables.

This isn’t a fundraising round. There’s no equity dilution, no new shares flooding the market. It’s a debt facility, which means Fold is betting its existing revenue streams are strong enough to service the borrowing while it scales.

The mechanics of the deal

The credit facility is structured as a revolving line, meaning Fold can draw funds, repay them, and draw again over the four-year term. The collateral is the receivables generated by Fold’s own credit card customers. Encina Lender Finance isn’t making a speculative bet on crypto — they’re lending against a pool of consumer credit card balances.

Advertisement

Fold’s new credit card, issued by Celtic Bank and running on the Visa network, offers up to 4% back in Bitcoin rewards. The base rate sits at 1.5%, with additional behavior-based bonuses that can push the total higher. Stripe handles the payment processing infrastructure.

The card is currently rolling out to waitlist users, building on the customer base Fold already established through its prepaid debit card product.

Revenue trajectory tells the story

Fold reported $31.8 million in revenue for 2025, a 34% increase year-over-year. Transaction volumes hit $960 million over the same period, representing 46% growth. Those numbers explain why a lender like Encina was willing to extend a nine-figure credit line.

The gap between revenue growth (34%) and transaction volume growth (46%) is worth noting. It suggests Fold is processing significantly more transactions but capturing a slightly smaller revenue share per dollar transacted.

What this means for investors and the broader market

Fold trades on NASDAQ, which makes this credit facility particularly relevant for public market investors. The decision to use debt rather than equity financing preserves existing shareholders’ stakes while still providing the capital needed to underwrite new credit card accounts at scale.

The Visa network partnership and Stripe integration remove friction that earlier crypto card attempts struggled with. Fold’s stack looks like a standard credit card from the consumer’s perspective, with the Bitcoin accumulation happening quietly in the background.

The risk profile isn’t trivial. Fold is essentially running a consumer lending business where the rewards are denominated in a volatile asset. If Bitcoin’s price drops significantly, the perceived value of those rewards shrinks, potentially reducing card usage and new sign-ups. The credit facility is secured by receivables, so Encina gets paid regardless of what Bitcoin does, but Fold’s growth story depends on consumers continuing to find Bitcoin rewards compelling.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.