Episode description

In the Season 2 finale, CEO of Fold Will Reeves is our special guest. Prior to dedicating himself full-time to Fold, he worked in consumer tech and payments in Silicon Valley. He has experienced the challenges and rewards involved with both running his own startups and working for massive companies.

Will credits his first time hearing about bitcoin to a friend he met when he was living in Argentina who explained why it could be useful as a global currency. Will organized a pilot called Lightning Pizza that set out to prove bitcoin’s use as a payment method, and he fills us in on its ongoing impact. Will then describes how Fold is changing behavior through incentives and explains why bitcoin cashback is better than airline miles. Thanks to his work in traditional payments, Will is very knowledgeable with the problems of legacy payment systems and discusses why bitcoin is superior. Regarding user privacy, Will feels that data collection is out of control and speaks to the risk it poses for consumers. He reveals the percentage of Fold users that choose bitcoin as their payment method and articulates why he expects the number to grow even more. Additionally, Will shares his thoughts on what roadblocks stand between cryptocurrency payments and mass adoption.

Topics covered:

- A background of Will and what he was doing before crypto.

- How bitcoin can immediately improve the lives of consumers and merchants.

- The Lightning Pizza project and its results.

- Fold’s target market of crypto enthusiasts and newcomers.

- What sets Fold apart from other crypto cashback programs.

- Promotions that Fold offers for the holiday season and a new feature.

- Payment problems that Will witnessed in his endeavors before crypto.

- The importance of data privacy.

- Big changes to e-commerce and payments on the horizon in 2020.

- Consumer behavior that Will observes from mobile users versus desktop users.

- Where Fold users spend their rewards.

- Hurdles facing Fold and bitcoin on the adoption journey.

Links to Resources:

Fold: https://foldapp.com/

Will on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wlrvs

Fold on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fold_app

Lightning Pizza: https://ln.pizza/

Andreas Antonopoulos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJWCJCWOxBYSi5DhCieLOLQ

Jameson Lopp: https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information.html

What Bitcoin Did: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/