BlockFi Gets Fiat On-Ramp Serviced by “Crypto Bank” Silvergate

BlockFi has announced today it is supporting cash transfers on its platform.

BlockFi Ushers in Fiat On-Ramp

Weeks after the company’s $30 million Series B funding round led by Valar Ventures, BlockFi has announced the introduction of wire transfers of fiat directly to the platform.

The move marks the New Jersey-based CeFi giant’s first fiat on-ramp channel. The wire transfer service will be available to clients around the world.

Wire transfers will be powered by Silvergate, a publicly-traded financial institution that operates the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), a 24/7 payment network. Many of the largest cryptocurrency market participants use the network including, Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and bitFlyer.  

Crypto-Curious Welcome

The platform offers support for trading between USDC, LTC, BTC, ETH, and GUSD.

It also offers crypto collateralized cash loans and compound interest of up to 8.6% in its interest-earning accounts. Its current rates for Bitcoin are 4.9% for up to 3 BTC, falling to 3.2% on amounts above 3 BTC.

On the announcement of launching its new fiat on-ramp, CEO and founder Zac Prince told Crypto Briefing:

“This announcement is significant for us at BlockFi in that it’s the first step towards our vision of opening up crypto for the mainstream and making one’s first bitcoin buy a simple and familiar, rather than intimidating, process. The crypto market is ready to mature to wider adoption, but in order to do so, it needs these kinds of diverse tools to 1) highlight the value of investing in digital assets and 2) provide easy channels for everyday people to onboard into the digital asset ecosystem. Earning 8.6% interest on any retail investment today is rare, so to make that available for people all over the world can be incredibly powerful to inspire someone’s first crypto purchase.”

The firm has also secured a money services business license for the state of Florida.