Coinbase Card
- Best for: Coinbase users who want crypto rewards on a debit card
- What Sets It Apart: Pays straight from the dollars, USDC, or other crypto in your Coinbase account
- APY: None; card funds earn no interest
- Rewards: Variable rate the app shows; a crypto you pick from a rotating list; no cap
- Features: Visa prepaid card issued by Pathward, N.A.; virtual card on approval; Apple Pay and Google Pay; up to $2,500 in purchases and $1,000 in ATM cash every 24 hours
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Cost: No annual or spending fee; $0 Coinbase ATM fee, though ATM owners may charge; $0 foreign transaction fee; a spread when Coinbase sells crypto you spend
- Eligibility: A verified Coinbase account; every state but Hawaii; no credit check
- Pros: No fee to spend dollars or USDC; crypto rewards without buying crypto; virtual card on approval; Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Cons: Reward rate changes and is shown only inside your Coinbase account; spending other crypto is a taxable sale; unpublished spread on crypto
Get the Coinbase Card if you hold dollars or USDC, a coin pegged to the dollar, on Coinbase and want crypto rewards on a debit card with no credit check or annual fee. Pay from those balances, since a purchase paid with bitcoin or other crypto sells it and can leave you a taxable gain.
The Coinbase Card is a Visa prepaid debit card, issued by Pathward, N.A., that pays for each purchase from the dollars, USDC, or other crypto you choose to spend in your Coinbase account. It isn’t Coinbase’s credit card, the Coinbase One Card, or the BitPay Card, the prepaid crypto card BitPay ended in June 2023.
Key Features
- No annual, monthly, spending, or foreign transaction fee, and no Coinbase fee at ATMs (an ATM’s owner may charge one)
- Crypto you spend is sold for dollars at checkout, at a price that builds in Coinbase’s margin, called a spread
- Rewards in a crypto you pick from a rotating list and can switch anytime, at a variable rate the app shows
- Limits of up to $2,500 in purchases and $1,000 in ATM cash every 24 hours
- Open to verified Coinbase users in every state but Hawaii, with no credit check
Pros
- No fee to spend dollars or USDC, at home or abroad
- Crypto rewards without buying crypto first
- A virtual card to use as soon as you’re approved
- Works with Apple Pay and Google Pay
Cons
- A reward rate that changes and is shown only inside your Coinbase account
- Every purchase paid in bitcoin or other crypto besides USDC is a taxable sale ($100 of bitcoin bought for $60 leaves a $40 gain)
- A spread on crypto you spend that Coinbase doesn’t publish as a rate
Coinbase users who pay with dollars or USDC get crypto rewards with no fee, while a purchase paid in bitcoin or other crypto is a sale, taxed on any gain since the coin was bought. Anyone who wants a published reward rate is better served by a crypto credit card paid in full each month.
Learn more about the Coinbase Card or see how it compares to the best crypto credit cards.
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