Crypto.com Rewards Visa review: A prepaid card for crypto enthusiasts

The Crypto.com Visa is a prepaid card funded by your Fiat Wallet or Crypto Wallet. It comes in five different tiers depending on how much you fund your card with and stake into Crypto’s native token, CRO.

The most basic tier (Midnight Blue) is simply a debit card. It doesn’t earn rewards and won’t provide any additional features or benefits. It’s the entry-level option if you’re flirting with the idea of Crypto.com rewards, but you’re still unsure if it’s for you. The higher tiers are for enthusiasts of cryptocurrency who want to milk this card’s broad list of subscription-based perks and actively invest in cryptocurrency.

Here is a chart of all the tiers, required stakes and rewards rates:

Each tier beyond Midnight Blue requires active participation in the platform’s crypto staking program if you want to earn that tier’s highest rates. To stake, you’ll need to purchase and hold on to a specific amount of CRO in your in-app crypto wallet for 180 days. Depending on the tier and how much CRO you stake, you unlock increased rewards rates along with discounts on subscription services.

If you’re a crypto enthusiast this card is likely on your radar because it offers a fast track to investing your credit card rewards without any complicated redemption schemes. It also stands as an affordable payment method if you need a card for online purchases or an alternative to cash.

Rewards: Potential for a best-in-class flat rate

This card earns rewards as Crypto.com’s CRO token based on the rewards tier you qualify for at the time of purchase. Rewards are reflected in your Crypto.com wallet instantly following transactions as shares of CRO. These tokens are deposited into your account instantly and can be traded on the Crypto.com platform for other digital coins or turned into USD (or another currency) for spending. But if you do not actively participate in the staking program, only the two top tiers earn rewards on purchases.

Compared to traditional reward cards, the rates on the Crypto.com Rewards Visa are not standout features. For no annual fee and no upfront costs, traditional credit cards may offer flat rates of up to 2 percent and even higher rates in bonus categories. While a 5 percent rewards rate is quite impressive at the card’s high end, the $400,000 staking requirement is a big ask that not many will be able to afford. However, if you can afford this — or you already invest in CRO and want to add this card to your wallet — you won’t find a better flat rate.

Fees: Affordable access to a digital payment method

Like any credit card with no annual fee, the Crypto.com Visa is a viable choice for new cardholders wary of annual fees. If you want a card for secure, online transactions or as an alternative to paying with cash it’s a fair choice. However, this is only the case if you see cryptocurrencies playing a role in your financial future. If you want to distance yourself from cryptocurrencies, applying for this card will be a lot like buying a pricey espresso machine to only make hot chocolate. It can help you make secure payments, but you aren’t making the most of it if crypto isn’t on your horizon.

If you’re hoping for a simple card with boilerplate perks, intro offers and easily accessible rewards, this isn’t the card for you. This card is complicated, lacks first-year value and isn’t a good fit for the average cardholder. Although it can be a valuable addition to your wallet, it requires advanced financial strategizing and an advanced understanding of the cryptocurrency marketplace.

Perks: Lacks valuable card benefits

Many top reward cards carry a portfolio of benefits that bring value outside of ongoing rewards, and many of them include credits for streaming and everyday activities like ordering food or eating out. The Crypto.com Visa reserves its long list of perks for its most devoted members, but includes some boilerplate conveniences like free ATM withdrawals. However, high-tier members can enjoy highly niche perks like access to a private jet membership.

ATMs and jets aside, Obsidian and Frosted Rose Gold/Icy White members enjoy several reimbursements for the following common memberships:

• Spotify: $13.99/month
• Netflix: $13.99/month
• Amazon Prime: $14.99/month
• X (formerly Twitter) Premium: $8/month for the first 12 months

The Royal Indigo/Jade Green tier includes memberships for Spotify and Netflix (for the first six months), while Ruby Steel only includes Spotify's first six months.

Overall, the card’s most perk-laden tier require a hefty investment in the crypto platform. It provides over $600 worth of perks for the first year you hold the card (and $500 each subsequent year). This value isn’t exactly shrug-worthy, but at that level of commitment to Crypto.com and its token, CRO, you’d at least think they’d reimburse you in full for the highest tier of Netflix — not the basic one. 

If you’re hoping to lean on perks like rental car insurance coverage and waivers, no foreign transaction fees and introductory APRs, you should consider a traditional credit card. 

Welcome offer: Lacks first-year value for new cardholders

Credit cards with strong welcome offers can provide more value in their first year than they do over the next several years. When a rewards card doesn’t have one, it should immediately prompt you to at least consider other options. Although this card provides hundreds of dollars of value through perks (if you invest at least $40,000), you can only access that value if you use the platforms. Typical credit cards carry welcome offers that payout no matter where you spend your money, as long as you meet a spending requirement. 

Rewards value: Subject to the volatility of the cryptocurrency market

The value of your CRO Rewards is tied to the value of the CRO token, so you won’t know the realized value of your rewards until you trade your token on the Crypto.com App. If you do this as soon as you receive your card rewards, you should expect to exchange no more or less CRO than you earned at the time of your transaction.

For example, if you spend $1,000 at the Royal Indigo/Jade tier, you’ll earn 2 percent back as CRO, which is about 250 CRO tokens (valued at $0.08 per token as of Sept. 17, 2024). At its all-time high of $0.90, that same transaction would yield about 22 CRO tokens. Simply put, the more valuable CRO is the fewer tokens you’ll earn. Whether this rewards model works for you depends on the type of crypto investing you prefer, but it’s easy to see that a “buy low, sell high” mindset will rake in the most earnings. 

The volatility of cryptocurrency could work in your favor if you pile on the purchases to earn a substantial amount of CRO at a time when the token is at its lowest value, then trade your tokens when the value increases. But you’d be entirely reliant on the value of a token that is nearly unpredictable, and it could backfire on you just as likely as it could work.

The Crypto.com Rewards Visa is worth considering if you’re a cryptocurrency enthusiast who wants an easy way to use crypto for purchases. It has some impressive features beyond that but only for upper-tier members with large sums of cash.

For everyone else, there are more rewarding cards on the market geared toward crypto enthusiasts. Here’s a look at two traditional rewards credit cards with no annual fee. 

Since the Crypto.com Rewards Visa is a prepaid debit card and not a credit card, you may want to pick up a traditional credit card as well. Doing so can help you qualify for cardholder benefits you typically only get with credit cards, as well as zero fraud protection for unauthorized purchases. A regular credit card can also come in handy if you need access to a line of credit for emergency expenses, or if you need to consolidate and pay down high-interest debt with a balance transfer credit card.

This card is only right for crypto investors. Anyone else would be better off with a traditional credit card or another prepaid card.

The Crypto.com Rewards Visa Card can be worth it if you are looking for a place to park your cryptocurrency and you want easy access to your funds for spending. Just keep in mind that you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get the best features, and you’re required to lock up funds in a risky investment to earn the highest rewards.

Since traditional credit cards are more flexible and can provide easier access to rewards, Crypto enthusiasts may want to keep one of the lower-tier versions of this prepaid Crypto.com Visa card on hand for emergencies but use a traditional rewards credit card for all other spending.