Crypto cards have steadily evolved from a niche product for investors, traders, and other community participants into one of the key tools for integrating digital assets into everyday payments. According to Visa, usage of crypto-enabled cards across its network has shown consistent growth following the 2022–2023 downturn. This trend reflects not only a rebound in interest in digital assets but also a broader expansion of their real-world use cases. In 2025, transaction volumes approached historical highs, while geographic adoption became significantly more diversified, with the Asia-Pacific region taking a leading role.
To understand the current market landscape, it’s essential to look beyond individual products and focus on the types of solutions they represent. That’s why this analysis centers on the core categories of crypto cards and on the most illustrative products through which different financial models are put into practice.
Key Crypto Card Models and Their Product Execution
According to Visa, the network currently supports more than 130 card programs linked to stablecoins across over 40 countries. These figures were disclosed by CEO Ryan McInerney in the fourth quarter of 2025. At the same time, in March 2026, Visa announced an expansion of its partnership with Bridge in the issuance of stablecoin-enabled cards. At the time of the announcement, such cards were available in 18 countries, but the program is expected to extend to more than 100 jurisdictions by the end of 2026.
These initiatives and results from Visa illustrate the rapid scaling of crypto cards as a distinct segment of the payments infrastructure. At the same time, the umbrella term “crypto cards” covers a wide range of product models, from prepaid cards with upfront conversion to solutions directly linked to crypto wallets. All of them rely on the same underlying payment infrastructure, but differ in how assets are stored and in how conversion mechanisms are structured. These differences are what define the current landscape of the crypto card market.
Prepaid Crypto Cards with Pre-Conversion
Prepaid crypto cards represent the most straightforward model of crypto-linked payment products, and the one that initially drove their mass adoption.
Under the prepaid model, users convert crypto assets into fiat at the moment they fund the card. From that point on, it functions like a standard prepaid debit card, allowing purchases or cash withdrawals within the available balance. Crypto is used only at the top-up stage.
The Crypto.com Visa Card is one of the most illustrative examples of the prepaid model. The card is positioned as a prepaid product that can be funded via a crypto wallet or a fiat account using another card. In both cases, digital assets are converted into the local currency before being used within the traditional payments infrastructure. The card was launched in November 2018 in Singapore, becoming one of the earliest crypto card products on the market. In the following years, its geographic reach expanded across the US, Europe, Canada, and Latin America, supported by its partnership with Visa.
Other notable prepaid crypto cards include:
- Bitsa Card. A product of the Spanish fintech company Bitsa, launched in 2019 and targeting users in the European Economic Area. The card follows a classic prepaid model. Crypto assets are converted into euros within the app, then credited to the card balance and used for payments via the Visa network. The card is available in both physical and virtual formats.
- Volet.com Card. A product of the fintech platform Volet, formerly AdvCash, launched in 2020. The card operates using the user’s Volet account balance rather than crypto assets directly. Funds are first converted and credited to a fiat account, then transferred to the card. Both virtual and plastic versions are available, supporting Visa and Mastercard.
- Bit.Store Card. A product of the Web3 platform of the same name, introduced in 2023. It is a prepaid virtual Mastercard that can be funded with crypto assets, which are then converted into fiat. One distinguishing feature is the absence of mandatory KYC requirements.
It’s worth noting that the examples above represent only a small share of the prepaid crypto cards available on the market. The prepaid model is the closest to traditional payment instruments and is the least dependent on crypto-native infrastructure. Its main advantage is simplicity and predictability. The key trade-off is the need to convert assets in advance, which reduces flexibility in managing them and limits potential upside from price movements.
Custodial Crypto Debit Cards
The next stage in the evolution of crypto cards is custodial debit products that eliminate the need for upfront conversion. At their core, these follow a traditional debit model, where users hold crypto assets in accounts managed by a provider, typically a crypto exchange or a fintech platform.
Within this model, a preselected digital asset is automatically converted into fiat only at the moment of payment. The merchant receives a standard transaction in the local currency, while all crypto-related operations are handled within the provider’s infrastructure.
Wirex Card is one of the earliest and most widely adopted products in this category. Launched by the UK-based fintech platform Wirex in 2020, the card is issued on both Visa and Mastercard networks, supports multi-currency balances, and is available across dozens of jurisdictions, including the UK, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and countries in the European Economic Area.
Other well-known crypto debit cards include products offered by major exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, KuCoin, Bitget, WhiteBIT, and Bybit. These offerings typically feature multi-currency accounts, custodial asset storage, and direct integration with user accounts on trading platforms.
The main advantage of custodial debit cards is that users don’t have to sell their crypto assets in advance. This preserves flexibility and allows funds to be used at the moment of the transaction. The primary trade-off is the custodial nature of asset storage, where control over funds remains with the provider until the payment is executed.
Non-Custodial Wallet-Linked Crypto Cards
A further stage in crypto card development is defined by a move away from custodial asset storage. These cards follow a debit-like architecture, but aren’t tied to an account with a centralized provider. Instead, they connect directly to a user’s non-custodial crypto wallet.
In practice, users retain full control over their assets up to the moment of payment. Funds are held at a blockchain address managed by the user through a Web3 wallet. At the point of transaction, the required amount of digital assets is converted into fiat through partner providers that enable interaction with the traditional payment system.
One of the most prominent products in this segment is MetaMask Card, which is integrated directly into the widely used non-custodial MetaMask wallet. The card was launched in September 2024 in partnership with Mastercard and Baanx, a Crypto-as-a-Service provider focused on bridging digital assets with traditional financial infrastructure.
Other notable non-custodial crypto cards include:
- Gnosis Card. The product was launched by the team behind the Gnosis blockchain infrastructure project in June 2023 and is built on the Safe wallet. The card operates via the Visa network and is currently available primarily to users in Europe, with plans to expand into Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
- Bitget Wallet Card. While connected to the ecosystem of the centralized crypto exchange Bitget, the card is linked to its non-custodial wallet. It is available across multiple regions, including parts of Asia and the European Economic Area, and reflects growing interest among centralized exchange ecosystems in developing decentralized solutions.
SafePal Banking Gateway. In 2024, Singapore-based fintech company SafePal, the developer of the non-custodial wallet of the same name, partnered with Swiss bank Fiat24. As a result, the company issues virtual Mastercard cards with full IBAN support, allowing USDC to be used not only for payments but also for bank transfers.
It’s also worth noting that Wirex introduced its W-Pay toolkit back in June 2023. The solution enables decentralized applications, or dApps, to issue non-custodial crypto debit cards based on zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology.
The main advantage of non-custodial crypto cards is that users retain full control over their funds. The primary trade-off is a more complex infrastructure and more limited availability compared with other card models.
Crypto Cards with Asset-Backed Credit Lines
A distinct category of crypto cards includes products where digital assets aren’t used for direct payments, but instead serve as collateral for a credit line. Under this model, users don’t sell their assets at the point of transaction. Instead, they access borrowed funds that are used for payments.
The mechanics differ from other models:
- Crypto assets are locked in the user’s account as collateral
- Payments are made using a fiat-denominated credit line
- Settlement occurs through debt repayment or collateral management
In effect, a crypto credit card combines the functions of a payment instrument and a lending product.
A representative example is Exa Credit Card, a virtual-only product issued through a partnership between crypto exchange Uphold and the DeFi platform Exactly Protocol, which operates as a decentralized lending market. The card is issued under a Visa license, with Third National Bank acting as the issuer. Each transaction made with an Exa Credit Card effectively initiates a loan backed by crypto collateral, executed through a decentralized lending infrastructure. The card also supports installment payments, allowing purchases to be split into multiple payments.
The key advantage of the credit model is that users can retain their crypto holdings while still having funds available for spending. The main risk lies in collateral volatility. If asset values decline, users may face margin calls or liquidation of their collateral.
Stablecoin-based cards are also sometimes highlighted as a separate category. However, this classification is debatable, as stablecoins are already the dominant asset used in crypto payments and are present across virtually all types of crypto cards. As of March 2026, USDT and USDC alone accounted for roughly 90% of total crypto card transaction volume.
Hybrid Crypto Card Models
The most common trend in the market is the combination of multiple architectural approaches within a single card product.
A representative example is Nexo Card. The product supports two modes, debit and credit. In credit mode, the card effectively allows users to spend against their crypto holdings without selling them, while also avoiding capital gains tax at the point of transaction. The card is issued on the Mastercard network and is available to residents of the European Economic Area and the UK.
Other examples of hybrid models include:
- Tangem Pay. A virtual Visa debit crypto card that enables users to spend USDC directly from a crypto address. The product was introduced by the Tangem Wallet team in November 2025. It is implemented as an extension of the wallet and combines a non-custodial storage model with integration into traditional payment infrastructure, which requires users to complete KYC procedures.
- Gemini Credit Card. A product launched by Gemini in 2022 that combines traditional credit infrastructure with direct integration into a user’s crypto account on the exchange, and offers rewards in digital assets.
- Fold Credit Card. A product developed by the Fold platform, which originally evolved as a Bitcoin-focused ecosystem built around a prepaid debit card. In 2025, it added a credit model backed by BTC balances, along with rewards paid in Bitcoin.
Overall, the various architectures and mechanisms underpinning crypto-enabled card products are converging. Today, most crypto cards already combine the core functions of traditional card products, differing primarily in the details. The most important distinctions lie in the range of supported digital assets, how those assets are stored, and how they are converted into fiat.
