Fold app hits the NASDAQ

A SPAC deal has brought a bitcoin-based personal finance app to the public markets.

Why it matters: Every time a crypto firm goes public, we get a bit more transparency into an industry that engenders lots of skepticism.

Driving the news: Fold went onto the NASDAQ yesterday, through a merger between Fold Inc. and FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp., a SPAC, which was announced last year.

• It's trading under FLD, and was around $10 this afternoon, down from yesterday when it was trading most of the day at around $12.

What they're saying: "Today was a pivotal moment for Fold, as we became the first publicly traded bitcoin financial services company," Will Reeves, CEO of Fold, tells Axios in an email via a spokesperson.

By the numbers: Fold holds more than 1,000 BTC. Public companies holding BTC have become a bit of a thing.

• According to an investor presentation shared with Axios, Fold has over 500,000 accounts and made $24 million in revenue last year.
• It anticipates being able to greatly expand that by spending much more heavily on marketing in 2025.

How it works: Fold has become a personal finance application, where a person can do basic financial operations, like receiving their paycheck, paying bills and buying bitcoin.

• It has a debit card already, and it recently announced a credit card that provides rewards in bitcoin (or satoshis, the smallest unit of a bitcoin).

💭 Brady's thought bubble: Bitcoin rewards on a payment card are a way to dollar cost average into bitcoin without really thinking about it.

• Plus, you never know how the value of your "points" on other cards might change, but 1 BTC = 1 BTC, as they say.