Welcoming Blockrize into the Fulgur portfolio meant betting on a simple but powerful thesis: the credit card, that most ordinary of consumer products, could become one of the most efficient on-ramps to bitcoin accumulation. Founded in San Francisco in 2018 by Thomas Harrison, Blockrize launched the first credit card to deliver bitcoin rewards on every purchase, transforming everyday spending into a passive stacking strategy.

At the time, the idea was unconventional. Cashback in points, miles, or fiat had defined card rewards for decades. Blockrize argued, correctly in our view, that a generation of users would prefer to receive a hard, scarce asset that they actually wanted to hold. The product reframed the rewards conversation around long-term value rather than short-term redemption schemes.

Our investment in 2019 reflected the Fulgur thesis that bitcoin adoption advances most powerfully through embedding bitcoin into routines people already have. Spending on a card is the most habituated financial behavior in the world. By engineering a path from swipe to sats, Blockrize created a flywheel that did not ask consumers to change their lives, only to align their existing ones with sound money.

In July 2020, Gemini acquired Blockrize, and the concept was folded directly into what would become the Gemini Credit Card. The thesis has since proven out at scale, with bitcoin and crypto rewards cards becoming a staple offering across the industry. Thomas and his team validated the entire category and provided the blueprint others would follow.

Blockrize remains one of our favorite early bets. It is a clean example of a small team identifying a powerful behavioral wedge years ahead of the curve and executing decisively. We are proud to have partnered with Thomas, and we count Blockrize as a successful exit that helped legitimize bitcoin rewards in mainstream consumer finance.