Crypto Lender BlockFi Attracts Bid from Curve On Over 87,000 Suspended Card Holders

BlockFi credit cards allow its holders to earn 1.5 percent back in Bitcoin on every purchase made using the card.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Richa Sharma | Updated: 15 November 2022 08:50 IST

Crypto Lender BlockFi Attracts Bid from Curve On Over 87,000 Suspended Card Holders

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Olieman.eth

As per reports, Binance US and Coinbase were also trying to get BlockFi’s credit card

Highlights

FTX downfall has affected BlockFi’s business
FTX US would provide BlockFi $400 million credit facility
Due to FTX collapse, the crypto industry has crashed down

Curve, a payments company, is looking to purchase over than 87,000 credit card customers, whose credit cards have been suspended this November, from BlockFi crypto lender. Deserve, a Banking as a Service (BaaS) company, has been roped-in to process the outreach and negotiations on this deal. Deserve is also responsible for servicing the BlockFi card programme that was launched in July 2021. Curve's offer to purchase this detail from BlockFi comes at a time when the crypto industry is undergoing a slump owing to the dramatic downfall of the FTX crypto exchange.

“Terms are being negotiated actively between Curve and Deserve, but a sale or partnership, if agreed to, is pending the conclusion of due diligence,” a CoinTelegraph report quoted a Curve spokesperson as saying.

As part of its initiative to drive crypto adoption, BlockFi credit cards allow its holders to earn 1.5 percent back in Bitcoin on every purchase made using the card.

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The company, however, decided to suspend withdrawals for users citing the ongoing FTX ordeal. BlockFi and FTX US had announced this July that the companies had agreed to a deal wherein FTX US would provide BlockFi credit facility worth millions, which would also give FTX the right to acquire BlockFi.

Following the decision, several users of the BlockFi cards complained on Twitter about their cards not working that prompted Curve to put in a bid.

Blockfi just halted their Credit Cards lmao pic.twitter.com/eGafCXB5R0
— Kevin Stacks (@KevinStacksSats) November 12, 2022

My BlockFi credit card has officially stopped working.
R.I.P :headstone: 2021-2022
— Portland.HODL (@PortlandHODL) November 11, 2022

Guys the card is declined on Amazon too. They've shut the #BlockFI cards down. https://t.co/rN5DZDbW2t
— SheBytes (@SheBytesBlog) November 11, 2022

If Curve's acquisition deal comes through, it will still continue to allow users to earn crypto awards.

The company has also said that the users will not be ported to yet another centrally held exchange.

As per reports, Binance US and Coinbase were also trying to get BlockFi's credit card.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, BlockFi, Curve, FTX

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More