At IKIGUIDE, we promote the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. A new wave of crypto revolution is coming into the APAC region through Crypto Cards! We know that there are many options for crypto cards in the market currently, and it might be confusing.
This is why today’s post is about the top 8 most popular crypto cards available currently on the market– enjoy the report!
Crypto.com offers a whole suite of cryptocurrency payment products for merchants, vendors, and consumers. Their flagship products are the range of MCO cards. These Visa cards will let you spend funds that you pre-loaded onto a mobile wallet anytime and anywhere that accepts Visa.
The wallet can be funded with 13 cryptocurrencies or topped up via bank transfer or a debit or credit card. As is the case with many crypto cards, there are significant benefits to funding the wallet with cryptocurrency and using cryptocurrency on the platform.
For example, there is no fee to send cryptocurrency into the MCO wallet except for the mining fees on the blockchain you use. Using MCO by Crypto.com you can buy, sell and send 7 fiat and 13 cryptocurrencies. The MCO Visa crypto card is used to access, manage and spend your funds stored on your wallet.
Up to 32 cryptocurrencies including BTC, MCO, CRO, ETH, BNB, ENJ, XRP & LTC.
USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, HKD, SGD, and AUD.
The MCO cards offer cardholders a lot of perks. To understand their offers, you need to understand that in addition to their MCO crypto cards Crypto.com has a token called MCO.
To try to bring value to this token the company incentivizes users who lock up or stake the token. Card holders who stake are rewarded with a better interest rate.
Crypto.com has two tokens, MCO and CRO. Crypto.com goes so far as to rebate customers a percentage of the money they spend with the card in the MCO token. The highest tier of MCO card (Obsidian Black) rewards the cardholder with a 5% rebate on money spent.
You might not have realized or even heard of them, but CRO is number 26 by market cap. In a bid to get their altcoin off the ground, Crypto.com is offering a service that you just aren’t going to get from your traditional banks. Now the big catch here is that to qualify for a lot of the perks you need to stake MCO tokens.
Staking MCO tokens will get a 100% discount on Spotify and Netflix, and there is a 10% discount on Expedia and Airbnb for the higher tiers of cards (T&C apply).
There is also a well-incentivized referral scheme that while a little pyramidy in nature will pay you a percentage of transaction fee incurred by your referrals and money for getting referrals to sign up.
In addition to the crypto cards, Crypto.com is disrupting established industries and offering loans. All lines of credit need to be collateralized over 100%, so this isn’t your traditional loan, but still a very interesting crypto wallet, card, and company which really does it all.
These are complicated financial services. I highly recommend checking out their website and carefully studying all the terms and conditions or even getting in contact with someone, to find out if any of their products are right for you. Also, the card is only currently available to residents in Singapore.
TenX is a company based in Singapore making waves with a crypto card that can be used anywhere that accepts Visa. At their media party recently, they have also announced that they are the world’s first ICO-funded company that is grated an e-license. Paired with a mobile wallet that holds bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin TenX is a viable solution for travelers, digital nomads, people looking to free themselves from banks, cypherpunks or anyone who just wants to experience the novelty of being able to use their digital currency in a store.
Wrapped in sleek black with a greyscale logo printed across the front it certainly looks the part. Connected to a mobile wallet available on both Apple and Android devices, it’s a great user experience that lets you effortlessly transact with cryptocurrencies.
The TenX cryptocard is let down a little by its fees. There is a fixed fee for ATM withdrawals of $3.25, and that doesn’t include additional fees that the bank who owns the ATM might charge. There is a $10 annual fee for the physical card, which is waived if you spend more than $1000 in a year and when you first request the card there is also a $15 issuing fee. All in all, it’s comparably priced with travel cards.
TenX makes the claim that they are more than just a digital currency card. Their mission is to bring the entire financial system right to our fingertips.
To this end they are working on two altcoins – the PAY token and the TENX token – The PAY token is a utility token that can be used on the TenX platform to pay fees and transfer value, and the TENX token seems like it pays dividends or something to token holders. Breaking down exactly how these tokens work is beyond the scope of this article. From what has been provided on Medium and their website it doesn’t look like either the PAX token or the TENX token do what they say they are going to yet.
BTC LTC XRP ETH
Residents of these countries can sign up for new accounts, perform account verification, and place an order for the TenX Card.
TenX’s service looks okay. Its a card with comparable fees that accepts bitcoins, eth, and litecoins in a stylish wallet. Their fees, however, are a bit of a letdown.
Coinbase is one of the largest exchanges in the world and a force to be reckoned with. Recently, they launched a crypto debit card only available in the UK and selected countries in the EU. (Update – last night they expanded the service to 6 more countries in Europe.) There are rumors indicating that they will slowly roll out the service around the world, but for now, it is still speculation.
Like every other crypto card, the fiat side of Coinbase’s card is powered by Visa. Unlike a lot of other cryptocards it comes with a name brand guarantee from a company that has a reputation worth entrusting your money to.
In Coinbase’s trademark blue the card certainly looks the part. It is used in conjunction with a mobile wallet that’s downloadable from both the Google Play and Apple App store. The app links to your Coinbase account which makes it incredibly easy for existing Coinbase users to get started with this service as there is no additional KYC.
Fees are high and persistent. At the ATM you can withdraw up to £200 per month for free but once you exceed that you have to pay 1.00% of the value of an ATM withdrawal. When withdrawing money internationally the fees double to 2% of the transaction value.
For domestic purchases, it is free to use the card but internationally the fees are back. It will cost you 3% per international transaction. There is also a crypto liquidation fee, and then remember that you also need to pay fees to cash in your money to Coinbase to begin with.
Currently, there is a daily spending limit on the card of £10,000. Additionally, there’s a monthly purchase limit of £20,000 and a yearly purchase limit of £50,000. These probably won’t affect you but what might is the daily ATM withdrawal limit of £500.
In conclusion, Coinbase is a big name and reputable exchange, but I fail to see anyone realistically using this card in their day to day. Sure it is nice knowing that your funds are insured and everything is in cold storage, but the fees are extortion.
BAT BTC BCH BSV EOS ETH USDC XLM XRP ZEC ZRX ETC LTC
The Coinbase card is only available in the UK and as of yesterday Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Is the Coinbase Cryptocard Worth it
It depends on what you want to use it for because it can be quite expensive. You are paying Coinbase fees, then Coinbase debit card fees than bank fees and or Visa fees. That’s a lot of fees. A novel bit of hype from a big name but it is also confirmation that the cryptocurrency fintech revolution is still just over the horizon. We also suspect that they might be holding an IEO soon!
WireX lets users quickly and easily send 18 traditional and digital currencies around the world. With innovative security measures like Multi-signature, cold-storage cryptocurrency accounts, its secure and usable. Integrating well with existing financial services and the current ways we use money. It is possible to cash in with SWIFT and SERP transfers which is what you would expect from a company trying to make crypto useable in store and bring secure digital currency to the pockets of everyday users.
The WireX cryptocard uses Visa to process payments, and the card is available in GBP, USD and EUR.
The WireX cryptocard rewards consumers for all purchases made in store with a 0.5% cash back paid in bitcoin for money spent. This applies to any transaction. Like WireX says on their website, they don’t limit what you do with your rewards; your money, your rules. Wirex is also the only Euro-headquartered crypto payment company that holds an e-money license with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
All impressive stuff, but is this card cost effective enough to use how you would a regular bank card? Well the fee structure is fairly complex, so I recommend that you read through it yourself, but here is a summary.
You can send your crypto and traditional currency to other Wirex users for free. There is a monthly card management fee of £1.00/€1.20/$1.50 to cover administration and operational costs
There is a 1% fee to top up the card with an external card, however it is free to cash in with SWIFT or SERPA. You only pay miner fees when sending cryptocurrencies. Where the Wirex fees do get a little expensive is when you want to withdraw money at an ATM. If it’s a domestic transaction £1.75 / €2.25 / $2.50 or for an international transaction: £2.25 / €2.75 / $3.50. For point of sales transactions you only pay the interbank fees plus a slight commission. Of course, there could be currency conversion fees imposed by the bank or even the merchant.
WireX is available all over the world. Check here to find out if this crypto card is available in your country.
The card’s fees are unreasonable. For domestic and atm withdrawals the WireX card is more expensive than a regular bank card. That being said, since you only need to pay interbank fees at point of sale, it could feasibly be used as a daily shopping card or to buy the groceries. And…they are doing an IEO soon!
Easily the coolest service in this post, TokenCard could be huge. So what makes this cryptocard so special?
Well, using an app you create an account by deploying an instance of the TokenCard smart contract to the Ethereum network. The contract comes with all the functionality you need to hold an account. It’s a revolutionary product. Tokencard doesn’t have custody of the user’s account or funds. Money is stored as Ethereum, until it is needed, in the contract that you create when you join. This all means that you have control of the contract and only with a signature from your private keys can money leave that contract.
It isn’t a zero trust relationship. Sorry Reddit hype bois you are being silly. Your crypto will need to be converted into fiat if you want to spend it. The contract isn’t magic, but when you do want to hold fiat it sits in a proper regulated bank.
All the solidity code is available here. If you can’t make head or tail of it, don’t worry. All you need to understand is that they have done good, and the team behind this project are very capable. Don’t believe us? How about the Ethereum Foundation? Who endorses this worthy organisation.
After raising 16 million in cryptocurrency in 2017, the app and the TokenCard only started rolling out to ICO holders this month. Soon the privilege will be opened up to all residents in the EU.
The first TokenCards were rolled out to ICO participants in the EU earlier this month. They are all happily tweeting pictures of purchases made with the TokenCards and for good reason too. This card has 0 fees for domestic transactions online and in store. If you are spending GBPs and there are GBPs on your card, you won’t pay any fees. At the atm, things do get a little more expensive. Here is a run down of the fees.
This is incredibly reasonable and better than what most banks are offering, combined with how Ethereum makes in unhackable, and the novelty of using a service that really is the first of its kind. Not bad!
The Cryptopay cryptocard is a contactless prepaid cryptocard avaliable in the UK and Russia. The wallet that is available on both mobile and desktop will accept BTC LTC XRP ETH. All cryptocurrencies can be sent with no extra fees, and the card can be used anywhere that major cards are accepted. The website also lets you use a debit or credit card to buy these currencies with comparable fees making it easy to load the card, or you can Transfer money directly between your Cryptopay wallet and your SEPA bank account to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
There are two cards, one for the UK and the other is for Russia. These crypto cards have different pricing and fees. The Russian card is cheaper in almost every regard. It is free to use for standard card payments in Russia but there is a ₽65 monthly account service fee. The UK card by comparison is €2.25 per transaction or £1.75.
Internationally the card gets more expensive and at an ATM you will pay £2.25 per transaction along with a foreign transaction fee of 3%. There is also a 1% loading fee, so yeah, it can add up pretty quickly.
By all reports the card works flawlessly in the UK. The fees might be a bit much to cough up if just using this card for everyday purchases, but if you have the need, this card is a viable alternative to traditional banking.
The card is available in Russia and the UK.
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If you live in Russia, the Cryptopay card is definitely worth it. In the UK and overseas there are higher fees and it is less appealing. The 3% foreign transaction fee makes it unrealistic to use this as a travel card, or for large international purchases. There is simple KYC and it’s easy to buy cryptocurrency on their platform which are both great features.
However, the site doesn’t exactly instill confidence, and you have to keep your cryptocurrency on their platform or fiat in their accounts if you want to use this service.
Bitpay is arguably the most competitive crypto card for Americans. Run by an established company and using Visa to process fiat payments it’s definitely trustworthy, and their competitive fees make it cheaper to use than a lot of alternatives. The Bitpay card is used in tandem with a mobile application / wallet to track, manage and spend funds. At anytime cryptocurrency can be converted to USD and then the USD can be spent through the card.
The BitPay crypto card can be purchased for $9.95. You have to send this amount in BTC or BCH. The card’s fees are surprisingly reasonable. Easily the biggest selling point is that there are no fees to use the card at points of sale and online in the US.
There is a $2.00 fee for ATM or cash-back withdrawals inside the US and a $3.00 fee for any ATM or cash-back withdrawals outside of the country. Something else that anyone thinking of opening one of these accounts should be aware of is that there is a $5 dormancy fee charged every month if you don’t use your card once every 90 days.
The card is available in the following countries:
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Holy See (Vatican City State), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel,
Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
Unfortunately, Bitpay has temporarily suspended cash withdrawals as they work to improve the security of their services.
All in all, it is a decent service if you live in the US and don’t have as many options as people in the EU and other countries. The free domestic transactions are nice and the atm fees are reasonable. Not that ATM fees matter since they are suspending withdrawal. Using this card overseas is still cheaper than a regular bank, but there are better alternatives. T
he account dormancy fee is probably the biggest drawback for the card. Really don’t know what they were thinking there.
Revolut is a fintech company disrupting the traditional banking industry with their Visa and mastercard products that boast innovative features like the ability to cash out cryptocurrency get exposure to digital assets, on their platform, along with health insurance and access to airport lounges. The website can be a little confusing, and honestly off putting, but if you keep digging you will uncover that Revolut is a powerful service.
It is more of a bank account than crypto wallet but there is an inbuilt exchange with comparable fees, and if you don’t mind an extra couple of steps it is possible to cash into the cards attached to Revolut with cryptocurrency. You can cash in up to 5 cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and XRP,.
There are three tiers of accounts offered by Revolut. The standard card has no fees and lets you withdraw up £200 per month and exchange up to £5,000 per month. All currency conversion fees are calculated using their interbank exchange rate.
There are no cryptocurrencies available on the standard account. For that you need to pay the £6.99/m fee for the premium card. This account comes with some novel features like access to airport lounges, flight insurance, global express delivery, reusable virtual cards and the no fee ATM withdrawals are pushed up to £400 per month.
There is an additional tier of cards above that for £12.99 / month which pushes the no fee ATM limit up to £600 per month and adds perks like overseas medical insurance and cashback rewards for using the cards.
USD, GBP, EUR, PLN, CHF, DKK, NOK, SEK, RON, SGD, HKD, AUD, NZD, TRY, ILS, AED, CAD, HUF, JPY, MAD, CZK, QAR, THB, and ZAR.
Revolut currently only supporting legal residents in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and Australia. The EEA includes:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
There is a lot to Revolut. There products and services are incredibly extensive. If you are looking for an alternative to traditional banks, traveling or just exploring your options it is well worth checking out.
With more and more options in the market, it’s undeniable that the mass adoption of crypto will happen really soon!
Of course, the above crypto cards are simply 8 of the more popular ones. Let us know in comments which crypto cards you are likely to choose– we love to hear from you! =)
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