What crypto cards actually pay after fees
Last verified: 2026-08-20 · 13 cards tracked · 8 fully verified
At $1,000/month in United States, Tria Card pays the most: $39 back a month — an effective 3.92% — after fees, caps, and FX are priced in.
Every number here comes from the card's own tier data, run through the same math for every card — marketed rate in, real fees and caps out. No card pays to rank higher. Full methodology.
Ranked for $1,000/mo · United States
| # | Card | Tier | Annual fee | FX fee | Paid in | Effective | Net $/mo | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tria Card$250/yr · 3% FX · USDT | Premium | $250/yr | 3% | USDT | 3.92% | $39 | Sign up → |
| 2 | Coinbase One Card$49.99/yr · 0% FX · BTC ⚠ | Standard | $49.99/yr | 0% | BTC ⚠ | 3.58% | $36 | Review |
| 3 | ether.fi Cash$0 · 0.5% FX · USDC | Core | $0 | 0.5% | USDC | 3.00% | $30 | Sign up → |
| 4 | Lava Card$0 · 0% FX · BTC ⚠ | Standard | $0 | 0% | BTC ⚠ | 3.00% | $30 | Review |
| 5 | Crypto.com Card$0 · — FX · CRO ⚠ | Plus | $0 | — | CRO ⚠ | 1.50% | $15 | Review |
| 6 | KAST Card$0 · 1.75% FX · USD | Standard | $0 | 1.75% | USD | 1.50% | $15 | Sign up → |
| 7 | Plasma One$199/yr · 0.5% FX · XPL ⚠ | Core ($199/yr or 20,000 XPL locked) | $199/yr | 0.5% | XPL ⚠ | 1.34% | $13 | Review |
| 8 | MetaMask Card$199/yr · 0% FX · mUSD | Metal | $199/yr | 0% | mUSD | 1.01% | $10 | Review |
| 9 | Avici Card$0 · 0% FX · none | Platinum (Virtual) | $0 | 0% | none | -0.12% | -$1 | Code & terms |
⚠ Rewards paid in a volatile asset. The effective rate above does not discount for that asset losing value after you receive it — a real gap, explained at /methodology.
Annual fee and FX shown are for the winning tier at this spend level, not the card's cheapest tier. "—" means the issuer hasn't confirmed that fee — see /data.
Across the 9 cards that rank at $1,000/month in the US, the average marketed top rate is 3.44% and the average rate people actually keep is 2.08% — a gap of 1.36 percentage points. Full month-by-month numbers in the Crypto Card Report.
FAQ
How do you calculate the effective cashback rate?
I take the marketed rate, run it through the card's real tier bands and monthly caps, subtract annual/monthly/issuance fees (amortized over year one), subtract FX cost on your foreign-spend share, and if the card requires staking a volatile token, subtract a 15% annual depreciation haircut on that locked-up capital. What's left, divided by your spend, is the effective rate. Full math is on /methodology.
Why don't I see Brighty in the rankings?
Brighty doesn't publish a fixed rate at all — it's dynamic and shown only inside the app, so there's no number to rank at any tier. Crypto.com used to have a similar problem (its own official pages contradicted each other on cashback %), but that's resolved and all five of its tiers now rank. A couple of secondary fee fields on that card are still being tracked down — see /data for the full breakdown.
What's the 15% staking haircut, and why apply it?
Some cards only pay their top rate if you lock up a volatile token (not a stablecoin). That capital carries real depreciation risk while it's stuck there. I assume a conservative 15%/year value loss on it, same assumption a competitor in this space uses, and net it against the reward. Turn off "include staking cards" above if you'd rather only see cards with no lockup at all.
Do you get paid for these rankings?
I earn a commission if you sign up through my links or codes, and you pay the same or less either way. The commission has zero effect on the math above — rankings are computed from each card's actual terms, not from who pays the most.
How often is this data re-verified?
At minimum monthly, against each issuer's own site — not against my own cached notes and not against other comparison sites. Every card shows a last-verified date. If a rate gets nerfed, I log it the same day I catch it.