Fold App, Niantic To Launch New AR Bitcoin Earning Experience

Fold has partnered with the company behind Pokémon Go to deliver a new bitcoin rewards experience to its users.

• Fold will offer a new AR bitcoin-seeking experience to its users in a partnership with Pokémon Go maker Niantic.
• Fold users will be able to search for and collect real bitcoin prizes around them.
• The AR experience will be progressively enabled in the Fold app, and users can sign up to be notified when it's live.

Bitcoin rewards and payments app Fold has partnered with Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go, to launch an augmented reality (AR) bitcoin earning feature in the Fold app, according to a press release.

"This is the easiest, most fun way to get your first piece of bitcoin," said Fold CEO Will Reeves. "Anyone can use our app to earn bitcoin and other rewards by exploring the world around them. For us, it's always been important to make participating in the bitcoin economy easy for anyone, regardless of education or technical expertise."

The feature will enable Fold customers to search for and collect bitcoin prizes in the environment around them, similar to the experience provided by Niantic's viral Pokémon Go game. Instead of finding creatures, users will be able to gather real BTC rewards.

"Games always help us push the boundaries of technology and allow us to incubate some of our most audacious thinking, but we see incredible opportunity in multiple categories including payments," Meghan Hughes of Niantic said. "Working with Fold, which has always been at the forefront of making bitcoin accessible, is a perfect collaboration for Niantic and a great use case for augmented reality."

The feature is already live for a small number of Fold users, who can access the experience every day but for a limited time. The company will roll out the feature more broadly going forward, and Fold Visa debit cardholders will enjoy special rewards and features that increase their earnings in the AR experience.