Crypto cards, with the fine print read for you
A crypto card is a rewards product with a lockup attached, not a way to use bitcoin. Every card here spends ordinary money at ordinary merchants; the crypto part is what it pays you back in, and sometimes what you have to lock up to qualify for the better rate.
That framing matters because the advertised headline rate is almost never the rate you get. The reviews below state the real conditions, including the countries where each card has quietly stopped working.
Coinbase CardTwo cards now: the original Visa debit card plus the Coinbase One Card, an Amex paying up to 4% back in bitcoin.
Up to 4% back in bitcoin (One Card); the rate scales from 2% based on assets held on Coinbase. The debit card has no standing cashback rate.
Crypto.com Visa CardThe broadest country coverage of any crypto card, with top rates of 5-6% in CRO gated behind 12-month lockups.
About 1.5% back in CRO on the free tier, around 3.5% on mid tiers, and 5-6% at the top, with paid tiers gated behind 12-month CRO lockups or subscriptions.
ChangedWirex CardCryptoback survives only in the UK, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan after Wirex cut crypto features from EEA and Australian cards.
Classic Cryptoback pays 0.5% to 8% in WXT, but only in the UK, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; Wirex One's five tiers have undisclosed rates.
How do the reward rates actually work?
In tiers, and the top tier usually costs something. Crypto.com pays about 1.5% back in CRO on its free tier, around 3.5% in the middle, and 5% to 6% at the top, with the paid tiers gated behind twelve month CRO lockups or subscriptions. Locking a token for a year to earn a few percent back is an investment decision wearing a payments product's clothes, and it should be judged as one.
The Coinbase One Card pays 2% to 4% back in bitcoin, scaled by the assets you hold on Coinbase, and requires a Coinbase One membership at $49.99 per year. The card itself has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, so the membership is the real price. The separate Coinbase debit card has no standing cashback rate at all.
Read any rate alongside what it is paid in. Cashback in bitcoin is worth what bitcoin is worth. Cashback in a platform's own token is worth what that platform's token is worth, which is a different and usually more fragile thing.
Check availability before anything else
Crypto card availability changes faster than the marketing pages do, and it changes by withdrawal rather than by announcement. On June 30, 2026 Wirex ended crypto funding, crypto exchange, card spending from crypto, and Cryptoback rewards for Classic app users across the EEA and Australia, leaving those customers with fiat only cards. Cryptoback continues in the UK, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Coinbase is narrower than most people assume. The One Card is available in the United States only, and the debit card excludes Hawaii. Crypto.com has the broadest country coverage of any card here, which is much of its appeal.
The practical order of operations is therefore backwards from how these cards are marketed. Confirm the card is issued where you live, then confirm the reward tier is available there too, and only then compare rates.
The tax question nobody puts on the landing page
In many countries, spending cryptocurrency is a disposal, which means each purchase can be a taxable event with a gain or loss to calculate. A card that spends from a crypto balance can therefore turn a coffee into a line item. Cards that spend from a fiat balance and merely pay rewards in crypto usually avoid this, which is a meaningful difference between two products that look identical in an advertisement.
This varies by jurisdiction and none of it is tax advice. It is simply the question worth asking before choosing between two cards on the strength of half a percent.
Frequently asked questions
Do crypto cards actually spend bitcoin?
Most spend ordinary money at the merchant and either convert a crypto balance first or draw from a fiat balance you topped up. The merchant is paid in local currency either way. What varies is whether the conversion happens at the point of sale, which is the detail that decides both the fees and, in many countries, the tax treatment.
Is the advertised cashback rate the rate I will get?
Rarely. Top rates are tiered and generally require holding or locking the platform's own token, often for twelve months, or paying for a membership. The free tier rate is the one to compare against a mainstream cashback card, and on that comparison crypto cards are frequently unremarkable.
What happens to my rewards if the card is withdrawn in my country?
Rewards stop, and any locked tokens stay locked on their original terms. Wirex customers in the EEA and Australia found this out in June 2026 when crypto funding and Cryptoback ended and their cards became fiat only. Treat a lockup as money committed to the platform rather than to the card.