By: Ofir Beigel | Last updated: 6/6/22
This post will cover the most popular active Bitcoin debit cards around, meaning debit cards that can be loaded with Bitcoins.
Bitcoin debit cards let you pay for your regular transactions using your bitcoin balance. They can be used at any store or website that accepts regular debit bank cards. There are often fees that apply and can vary depending on the card, but it may be worth it for the convenience of more easily spending your crypto balance in the real world.
Over the last few years, Visa and Mastercard have made a big push to embrace cryptocurrency companies – both offering cryptocurrency cards for various exchanges and vendors.
If you’re an EU resident, you’re probably best off using the Coinbase Card, a Visa card that can be ordered from within the Coinbase mobile app. If you’re an EU resident but Coinbase doesn’t support your country, you can try Wirex as a great alternative. For US residents, we’d recommend either the Coinbase Card, or the BitPay card (which has been in the US for a little longer).
If you want a detailed review about each card keep on reading. Here’s what I’ll cover:
No, it doesn’t. Bitcoin isn’t controlled by any single centralized party, so it can’t issue its own debit card. However, you can get a third-party prepaid debit card that you can load with Bitcoin, and then use it to buy almost anything.
While not many businesses accept payments in Bitcoin (yet), most accept debit cards. With a Bitcoin debit card, merchants get paid in their own currency while you are charged in Bitcoin from your prepaid balance.
Keep in mind there are downsides. Firstly, when using a Bitcoin debit card, you’re basically giving someone else control over your coins (at least the ones you’ve deposited).
Secondly, this service usually comes with a price. Every payment you make will often involve both processing fees as well as conversion fees for paying with a foreign currency.
Despite many crypto debit card issuers having their services suspended in 2018 by Visa, the payments sector has become more crypto-friendly again since then. Both Visa and Mastercard have now started initiatives to work with crypto companies, allowing more firms to issue their own crypto-funded debit cards.
Here’s a look at some of the best active Bitcoin debit cards available today:
Pros: Multiple coins supported, established company, widely available
Cons: High chargeback fees
Coinbase, one of the leading Bitcoin exchanges around, issues its own Visa debit card for the UK, broader Europe, and the US.
The card is linked to your Coinbase account and allows you to easily spend crypto held on Coinbase anywhere that accepts Visa payments.
Choosing which cryptocurrency you’re spending can be managed through the Coinbase app, which is available both on Android and iOS. The card also offers multiple security features such as 2-factor authentication, instant freeze and more.
Coinbase claims to charge no transaction fees to cardholders from the US, however there is a spread that applies each crypto-to-fiat conversion behind the scenes – this is variable and could be considered a fee of sorts. More info about the Coinbase card for US residents can be found here.
In Europe, there’s a £4.95 or €4.95 fee for issuing the card. ATM withdrawal fees are free up to £200 or €200 per month, then after that you will be charged 1% for domestic withdrawals and 2% for international withdrawals. Domestic purchase transactions are free, however international purchase transactions are charged 3%. One major drawback is the £20/€20 fee for processing a chargeback if required. The complete fee schedule for the UK and Europe can be viewed here. Here’s how to get your Coinbase card:
Pros: Multiple coins supported, established company
Cons: Limited availability outside of the EEA/Asia-Pacific region, frequent account closures
Wirex was rebranded from E-coin in 2016. The company supplies a debit Mastercard that can be loaded through the Wirex app (desktop or mobile). Depending on your region, the card can be loaded with cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Litecoin (LTC), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Waves (WAVES) Dai (DAI) and Nano (NANO).
Card balances can be converted to several fiat currencies including CAD, CZK, EUR, GBP, HUF,PLN, RON, HRK and USD.
The card is available to all EEA residents, a lot of the Asia-Pacific region and the US. More countries are being added over time, so you can check here if you want to see if your country is supported yet. The card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.
In-store and online purchases are free no matter where you are, while ATM withdrawals are free up to €400 per month for EEA residents, after which fees apply. Fees are set at different rates for the EEA and Asia-Pacific. Account management costs are generally free. The complete fee and limit schedule can be viewed here.
Wirex also supplies a virtual card if you don’t need the actual plastic card.
Keep in mind that some of our users have stated they have had issues withdrawing cash from certain ATMs and paying online with the Wirex card. Others have reported unexplained account closures by Wirex themselves.
Read my full Wirex review here.
Pros: No administration fees, cash back rewards
Cons: Limited range of supported cryptocurrencies
Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, released their own Binance Visa Card in mid-2020, in partnership with Swipe. Currently the card is only available to countries within the European Economic Area (excluding the UK), however it appears that an expansion to other countries is underway, starting with Swipe being approved for launch in the US.
Getting a Binance Visa Card is free and Binance charges no administrative or processing fees. Transaction fees are up to 0.9%, not including third party fees.
Binance Visa Card users can also receive up to 8% cash back on their purchases in Binance Coin (BNB).
Currently, the card only supports BNB, BUSD, BTC, USDT, SXP, ETH, EUR, ADA and DOT balances.
Pros: Well-known company, no transaction fees, supports multiple cryptocurrencies
Cons: Limited to US residents only
For US residents there is the option of using BitPay’s Bitcoin debit card. The card is available in all 50 US states. You must have a home address (no PO boxes), government-issued ID, and Social Security number to apply.
They offer a free virtual card for online use, however a physical card costs a flat fee of $10 and takes about 7 days to arrive in the mail. There are no transaction fees for the Bitpay card. BitPay’s card supports Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Litecoin (LTC), Dai (DAI), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Gemini Dollars (GUSD), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD) and Pax Dollar (USDP).
If you’re using the card outside of the US, you will need to pay a 3% conversion fee. If you withdraw money from an ATM you will pay a $2.50 fee (plus the conversion fee if you withdraw outside the US). There are also additional deposit and mailing fees which can be seen here.
Pros: Available across the UK and Europe, high limits
Cons: Relatively high fees, limited cryptocurrencies supported
Founded in October of 2013, Cryptopay is a wallet and payment platform that also issues a Bitcoin debit card. The card is currently available in the UK and Europe. You can either order a physical contactless card, or a virtual debit card if you’re just into online shopping.
The card supports BTC, ETH, LTC and XRP.
The physical card costs €5/£5 for a limited time and is shipped for free worldwide. ATM withdrawal costs €2.5/£2.5 domestically, or €3.5/£3.5 internationally, with 3% foreign exchange fees.
The card has a monthly maintenance fee of $1 and a 1% commission for loading (and unloading) money. The complete fee table can be viewed here.
Pros: 0% fees, established company
Cons: BTC and ETH only, limited to EEA countries, you have to manually sell your crypto into EUR before spending
Nuri, formerly Bitwala, was founded in 2013 and has raised over €42m in venture capital funding to date. They allow EEA and UK residents to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum using their bank account.
Nuri considers itself the first crypto bank account. While the company was hit by the initial Wavecrest shut down, it quickly recovered and started issuing services to their users in 2018.
Their Visa card has 0% fees, but you may still be charged by certain ATM operators themselves if you use their ATMs to withdraw cash. Purchasing limits are set to €1,500 daily, but can be increased if needed to €3,000 or more. ATM withdrawals are limited to €3,000 daily.
The main drawback to the Nuri card is that it won’t convert your crypto to fiat currency automatically, you have to manually sell your Bitcoin or Ethereum before making a transaction.
Pros: Established company
Cons: Currently only available in the US, only supports BTC and ETH
Paxful, popular peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplace, also offers its own crypto Visa debit card, through a partnership with BlockCard.
US users who provide know-your-customer (KYC) documentation will be eligible for the card, which requires a minimum balance of $10, with the card itself costing a further $10. Users can send BTC or ETH from their Paxful wallet to their card, which is converted directly to USD upon spending.
The Paxful debit card is currently only available to the US, however plans have been made to expand globally.
Pros: Spend crypto balance without selling the assets, cashback rewards
Cons: Initially only be available in Europe
Nexo, a crypto financial service provider, has released its own crypto bank card in partnership with Mastercard. Nexo’s card is unique in the sense that users can spend the value of their cryptocurrency, without actually selling it – instead, the back-end borrows fiat currency against the user’s crypto balance.
Nexo debit card users receive up to 2% cashback on all purchases, which can be received in Bitcoin or NEXO tokens. Users can also create free “virtual cards” which improve the safety of online purchases. There are no recurring fees, nor exchange rate fees when spending your balance.
The card will be rolled out to the European Economic Area first, which will soon be followed by other regions.
Pros: Connects to exchange wallet, great customer support
Cons: Must manually convert balances to fiat, only available in EEA
SpectroCoin is an all-in-one crypto exchange which offers an exchange-linked debit card to customers in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Although the SpectroCoin debit card is linked to a user’s exchange account wallet, the card itself can only be funded with EUR. This means that users will manually have to exchange their crypto to fiat within the exchange as needed – an extra step compared to most other Bitcoin debit cards.
The card is free and comes with free standard shipping, and it’s free to load via the SpectroCoin wallet. There is, however, a small monthly service fee of €1.15.
The SpectroCoin wallet can hold BTC and a range of other major coins, but remember you’ll have to manually exchange these to EUR to use your card. Exchange fees are variable and can be hefty at times of volatility.
Aside from the companies mentioned above, I have found several lesser known companies that claim to supply a Bitcoin debit card. However, many of these companies have very limited information about them online and should be treated with caution.
Trastra debit card is a Visa payment card enabling users to receive funds in crypto and spend them in Euros. Though relatively new, the reviews seem to be mostly positive with support being highly responsive.
What makes it special is the ability to exchange crypto to Euros without the need for a bank account. You can receive and hold crypto in your Trastra wallet and spend them as Euros whenever you need.
The card supports the following cryptocurrencies:
With no fees to trade and spend your crypto funds for Euro purchases, the card is competitive especially for its convenience. There are no card loading fees, however it costs €9.00 to order a card with a €1.25 monthly management fee.
Bitnovo caters mainly to residents of Spain. It allows users to buy several major cryptocurrencies through their mobile app, website or via vouchers that can be purchased in dedicated shops around Spain.
The platform enables users to top up a prepaid Mastercard or Visa card with the following cryptocurrencies:
Like some of the cards above, Bitnovo requires users to manually sell their coins to top up their debit card, rather than providing a service that automatically converts it upon spending.
You can read additional Bitnovo reviews here.
Aside from availability in your region, the most important deciding factors when choosing a card would likely be the company’s reputation, followed by fees. Other than that, since most of these cards work more or less the same there’s no ‘clear winner’, or loser, for that matter.
UK and EU residents are probably best off using the Coinbase Card, meanwhile US users would be best off using the Coinbase Card or the longer-established BitPay card.
On a personal note, using a Bitcoin or crypto debit card is a great way to start realizing your crypto gains on a day-to-day basis.
Have you had any experience with a Bitcoin debit card? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below.
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hi all do any of the cards work in Toronto Canada i want to maybe use one of them to help someone out who’s in the Ukraine
This is probably one of the best overviews of Bitcoin debit cards. *** Link removed***
Thanks a lot!
I’ve spent about two years trying to get a card,
I got one which worked for about two months, then
stopped working when the Banks shut them down.;
Why is Crypto.com not listed?
I am wondering the same thing.
Since I applied they have been verifying even now
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