How crypto cards work, and how to start using one
A crypto card is a regular Visa or Mastercard that spends your crypto instead of money in a bank account. You tap it like any other card, the merchant gets paid in their own currency, and you usually earn cashback on top.
3 min read
In this guide6 sections
What a crypto card is
Behind the scenes, the card company turns your crypto into dollars (or euros, or whatever the merchant wants) at the moment you pay. The merchant never touches crypto and doesn’t need to know you used it. To them, it’s just another Visa or Mastercard.
Your crypto
Usually a stablecoin like USDC, in the app or in your own wallet.
Converted as you pay
The card company swaps it into the currency the store wants.
The store gets paid
In its own currency, like any other card payment.
Most cards spend a stablecoin like USDC or USDT, which is pegged to the US dollar. Some let you spend other crypto too, which gets sold for you as you pay (and that can matter at tax time).
Getting started, step by step
- 1
Download the app and sign up
Usually with Google, Apple or an email address.
- 2
Verify your identity
Almost every card asks for a photo of your ID and a quick selfie. This is called KYC.
- 3
Set up your card
A virtual card is ready in a couple of taps, and you can add it to Apple Pay or Google Pay. Most cards also let you order a physical card by mail.
- 4
Add crypto
Stablecoins are the simplest, since a dollar stays a dollar. Most apps can also convert other crypto for you.
- 5
Pay
Tap your phone or the physical card anywhere Visa or Mastercard works, and earn cashback as you go.
The first time takes ten minutes or so, and most of that is the ID check.
Virtual or physical card?
You don’t have to pick one. A virtual card lives in your phone and works as soon as you’re approved. A physical card is the plastic (or metal) one you carry in your wallet, and most cards offer both.
Virtual card
- Ready in minutes, right after you’re approved
- Lives in Apple Pay or Google Pay, and works online
- Usually free
- Needs a store that takes tap to pay, or an online checkout
Physical card
- Arrives by mail, which can take a few weeks
- Works with chip and PIN, and at ATMs on cards that allow cash withdrawals
- Free on many cards; others charge for the card or shipping, from about $5 to $100
- Metal versions usually come with a paid tier or a big balance
27 of 36
cards we compare offer a physical card
9
are virtual only, used through your phone
Plenty of people use both: the virtual card on their phone day to day, and the physical card as a backup, for places that don’t take phone payments, or for trips abroad. Each card’s page lists what its physical card costs.
Who holds your crypto
Some cards hold your crypto for you, the way a bank holds your money. Others let you spend straight from your own wallet, so you keep control until the moment you pay. Our custody guide explains the difference, and why it matters.
What it costs
Most cards are free to get, with paid tiers for higher cashback. These are the costs to watch:
- The FX fee when you spend in another currency, usually at least 1% even on cards that advertise 0% (how to avoid it)
- The card network’s exchange rate on top of that, about 0.3% in our tests
- Any fee to convert your crypto when you pay
- A yearly fee if you pick a paid plan, and sometimes a fee for the physical card
What you get back
Cashback rates vary a lot, from nothing to 10% on paper. But caps, fees and the token the cashback is paid in decide what you actually keep, and that number can look very different from the headline.
- What they advertise, on average3.0%
- What they pay at $2,000 a month in the US1.5%
After fees, spend caps and FX. See how it changes by country and spend.
Working that out for every card, at your spend, is the whole reason this site exists.
See what each card pays back at your spend.
Open the calculator