Welcoming Coinmiles to the Fulgur portfolio means backing a team that quietly turned a familiar Canadian habit, hunting for cashback, into one of the most efficient bitcoin onboarding mechanisms in North America. Founded in Montreal in 2018 by Dave Pouliot, Coinmiles rewards users with cash or Bitcoin cashback when they shop across more than 1,000 partner brands, both online and at brick-and-mortar locations.

The pitch lands instantly with mainstream shoppers. Users continue buying from the merchants they already trust and receive cashback, but with the option to stack sats rather than collect ephemeral points. The Bitcoin payout option introduces millions of consumers to the asset through the most comfortable possible doorway: the rewards programs they have used for years without thinking twice about it.

Our Fulgur thesis prizes teams that meet users where they are, not where bitcoin maximalists wish they were. Coinmiles exemplifies that approach. Rather than asking consumers to overhaul their financial lives, the company integrates with everyday commerce and lets the merits of holding bitcoin reveal themselves over time, transaction by transaction.

The market opportunity is substantial. Cashback and rewards are a multi-billion-dollar category in North America alone, and only a tiny fraction is currently denominated in bitcoin. As more consumers seek to diversify into hard money, rewards apps that bridge fiat habits and Bitcoin balances will be among the most efficient distribution channels in the industry, with strong network effects across both sides of their marketplaces.

We partnered with Dave and the Coinmiles team in 2019 because they pair deep merchant relationships with a product that respects user choice and privacy. Their Montreal craft and Canadian regulatory rigor make them a rare combination of disciplined operators and authentic Bitcoiners, and we are excited to keep building alongside them.