Fold recently released its Direct to Bitcoin feature as part of a set of features that the team at Fold calls its Bitcoin Checking Account. Fold Users can now auto-convert anywhere from 1% to 100% of their fiat deposits to bitcoin from a checking account through which they can also make payments.
This new feature is the first of many that the company plans to release in the coming months that will help its users more easily live on a bitcoin standard.
You can now transition to a bitcoin standard in two taps using @fold_app.
Earn in bitcoin and maintain access to all the day to day financial tools you need. pic.twitter.com/V8BQgwTs7S
— WILL REEVES (@wlrvs) May 31, 2024
“Direct to Bitcoin is an automated way to balance between dollars and bitcoin for any funds coming in, and it’s essentially the base on top of which the Fold product works,” Fold CEO Will Reeves told Bitcoin Magazine.
“It really brings a fully functional banking experience to Bitcoiners, which really hasn’t existed in a great way until now,” he added.
In this new phase for Fold, Reeves and his team want to make it easier for Bitcoiners to use bitcoin as their base money, something that they not only accumulate through the app but can also easily convert to US dollars when they want to make a payment, as well.
To help usher in this new era, Fold has hired Ecosystem Lead Brian Harrington, whose first major task has been bringing features for the Bitcoin Checking Account to market.
The banking features you need
The currency you prefer
Bitcoin is better than dollars https://t.co/eKxJplD11i
— Brian Harrington (@BrainHarrington) May 31, 2024
Harrington is well known for his work at Choice App, where he directed the marketing efforts for the first Bitcoin IRA account in 2020, an offering that changed the public’s perception about holding bitcoin in an IRA. Now, many companies offer bitcoin IRAs.
Harrington seems extremely excited as he prepares to bring attention to Fold’s Bitcoin Checking Account. He wants people to be able to convert their bitcoin to US dollars and then spend those dollars all in one app, an idea that was born from his own frustration.
“I was tired of switching back and forth between a bank and a bitcoin exchange,” Harrington told Bitcoin Magazine.
“The checking account product solves what I call having an ACH portal. What is a bank? It’s access to the ACH network. I didn’t want to use the ACH portal at a USD maximalist institution anymore,” he added.
“After searching for these solutions for myself, I’m excited to work with Will and the team on making this a cohesive thing.”
With that said, both Harrington and Reeves stressed that what Fold is looking to accomplish is bigger than just these two features as they stand on their own.
“What Fold is doing is bigger than a single feature,” Harrington said.
“It’s not about features. It’s about this thing that’s happening with Fold,” he added.
Reeves chimed in to elaborate.
“Bitcoin is coming more and more to the center of our lives and to millions of lives,” he explained.
“The world is getting much more expensive for people that hold dollars, it’s getting cheaper for Bitcoiners, but there’s no bank for Bitcoiners,” he added.
“We’re focusing on how we can be the bank for Bitcoiners that doesn’t exist today.”
To learn more about Fold and its future plans, check out our recent Founders profile on Reeves.
Download the Fold app here.
