Crypto.com Visa Card

Pauline Hatch

Pauline is a personal finance expert at CreditCard.com.au, with 9 years in money, budgeting and property reporting under her belt. Ask Pauline a Question about this card.

The Crypto Visa card lets you spend your cryptocurrency like a regular debit card. It’s a virtual and physical card – including pure metal ones – that you can tap-and-go wherever Visa cards are accepted. You can earn rewards in CRO with up to 8% cashback on your spending, as well as reimbursements for popular streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, and earn yields on CRO held in your Crypto.com Wallet.

What we love

Crypto.com is one of many trading services for buying and selling cryptocurrency via their app, and the card is an add-on that lets you spend your crypto tokens like regular cash just about anywhere Visa is accepted.

There’s a lot to unpack with crypto cards, which are a little different from credit or debit cards in terms of function and rewards. Like all crypto cards, the Crypto.com Visa card operates like a debit card, where you’ll preload it with currency before you can spend it and top it up as you go. You can move currency onto your card from your bank account, other debit cards, or cryptocurrency, which Crypto.com automatically converts into usable cash at transaction time.

Transfers are made via the Crypto.com app, which can store, buy and sell over 170 types of coins, including the big players like Bitcoin and Ethereum. There are no annual fees and no ATM transaction fees (limits do apply).

The best part of the Crypto.com Card is the perks, which can reward you every time you tap your card. Let’s take a look.

The Level Up program

Crypto.com has revamped its rewards program to the new Level Up. The current tiers may be renamed under Level Up, but for now Crypto.com is still using the standard tier names (Midnight Blue, Ruby Steel, Royal Indigo/Jade Green, Frosted Rose Gold/Icy White, Obsidian and Prime). Rewards are unlocked either by a paid subscription (available on some tiers) or by locking up CRO for 12 months. All rewards are paid out in CRO and added to your Wallet.

• Zero trading fees (monthly limits apply)
• 0% foreign exchange fees
• +1% p.a. on Earn program (Prime tier)

Earning Rewards through staking or subscription

To enrol in rewards you’ll either pay a subscription (not available on the top three tiers) or lock up CRO for 12 months, depending on the tier. For example, to earn 3% back on everyday spending you can choose Royal Indigo/Jade Green with a $49.99 monthly ($499.90 yearly) subscription, or stake $7,000 worth of CRO (reward limits apply for Royal Indigo/Jade Green and Ruby Steel).

You may also earn interest for the CRO you’ve staked or locked:

• 4% p.a. for Jade Green/Royal Indigo (Pro)
• 8.5% p.a. for Icy White/Frosted Rose Gold (Private – US$50,000)
• 9.5% p.a. for Obsidian (Private – US$500,000)

Subscription reimbursement rewards

Depending on your card tier, you could get CRO cashback reimbursements for Netflix and Spotify subscriptions. You’ll need to switch your payment method to your Crypto.com Visa card. Rebates are paid monthly in CRO into your Wallet, and the duration/availability depends on your tier (see table above). You may also earn CRO on any portion that wasn’t reimbursed.

Other freebies and perks

The top four tiers get Priority Pass™ membership, which accesses over 1,700 airport lounges around the world, plus a guest for the highest tiers. For Royal Indigo/Jade Green, lounge access is available to annual subscribers and capped at 4 visits per year.

What’s not so great...

If you go with a staking option, you’ll need to lock your CRO for a minimum of 12 months. Staking unlocks features like cashback rewards and subscription rebates, but it’s also money you can’t access for 360 days. At the end of the term, your tokens are available at whatever the current CRO value is, meaning the market will decide whether you win or lose at the end of the staking term.

Cautions about reimbursements

Reimbursements are calculated in USD and paid out in CRO, so the amount you receive in AUD can fluctuate with token prices and exchange rates. There’s a maximum of one reimbursement per merchant per month.

CRO Rewards compared to credit card rewards

All cashback rewards, reimbursements and interest earned from the Crypto Visa card are paid out in CRO Tokens, not fiat cash. That can be a good thing if you’re looking to build your crypto portfolio, but digital currencies rise and fall in value multiple times a day. There’s no guarantee of a token’s success, and the crypto market in general is a high-risk, volatile investment. By comparison, rewards earned through credit cards like cashback, frequent flyer points and rewards points hold reliable dollar values and turn into tangible items, like free flights or a slick new toaster.

You'll need to decide if you're best rewarded through cryptocurrency, or more tangible rewards programs.

Downsides to using it for purchases

It’s an unregulated industry. The world of crypto is still new and there’s a lot of innovation going on while regulatory boards scramble to keep up. Visa coming on board with Crypto.com gives crypto cards some good street cred, but we don’t know what kind of restrictions might be on the horizon around how and when you can use your card.

No digital wallet access. In Australia, you can’t connect your Crypto.com Visa card with a digital wallet, so you won’t be able to pay using Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay. This option is available in the US, so it’s likely to be rolled out locally in future.

ATM fees aren’t 100% free. Fees for ATM withdrawal are touted as free by Crypto.com, but a 2% charge applies after certain limits per month. And of course, you might be charged a fee by the issuing bank as well. You'll want to check the terms for ATM withdrawals as other limits apply.

Not all purchases earn rewards. You won’t receive rewards on these transactions: digital wallets, digital banking services, crypto exchanges, stored value products, money remittance services, security brokers/dealers, insurance sales, underwriting and premiums, tax payments, government services, financial institutions, POI funding transactions, quasi cash, money orders - wire transfers.

Why should you choose this card?

If you trade in cryptocurrency and want to earn tokens for your everyday spending, the Crypto.com Visa card is an excellent option. That said, you’ll have to be ok with earning CRO as your rewards, so do your research on the currency before you apply.

The Midnight Blue card doesn’t require a staked amount or subscription, which gives you a chance to test-run a crypto card without forking out any cash or CRO.

The top-tiered cards come with great perks that could see you being reimbursed around US$27.98 CRO per month for a standard Netflix and Spotify account. You can flexibly move between tiers depending on your spending and rewards goals.

Crypto’s card is backed by Visa, which lends a lot of power to the card’s integrity. The Crypto.com app has been downloaded over 10 million times and earned 4.7 out of 5 stars on the app stores, and generally seems to be touted as easy to use and with good customer service.

And, if you get a buzz out of checking your Wallet values every day (or, let’s face it, hourly), you’ll probably like seeing your CRO quietly growing while you spend.

Overall Rating

As far as crypto cards go, the Crypto.com Visa card gives some solid reasons to sign up. The cashback rewards on your spending are good, especially in the top-tiered cards. The reimbursement perks on subscriptions are a great way to invest in more crypto tokens without taking more cash out of your account to do it.

Of course, it needs to be said again that the crypto market is volatile. Be sure you’re ok with fluctuating values, and the hit-or-miss nature of cryptocurrency. The top-tier cards require a hefty stake or fee, but the lower-tier cards still earn good rewards at a lower cost.

You’ll need to be sure you want to earn CRO, and that you can afford the 12-month lockup of your staked amount for the card tier if that’s the way you go. The Crypto.com Visa card is beginner-friendly, a great way to boost your crypto wallet, and has a range of tiers so you can start wherever you're comfortable.