Credit: Crypto\u00a0Reporter<\/p>\n
We\u2019re in an in-between era: not full TradFi, not full DeFi. Crypto credit cards are what that transition looks like in your\u00a0wallet.<\/p>\n
Yes, people are actually using them enough to show real behavior, not just gimmicks, but they\u2019re still tiny compared to the traditional card universe. For now, they\u2019re mostly bridge products and growth funnels: exchanges use them to acquire and lock in users, card networks use them to learn crypto rails, and everyone quietly experiments with how far you can pull crypto into day-to-day spending before regulators flinch.<\/p>\n
The money is real, but the economics are early. Think: loss leaders and loyalty infrastructure, not standalone profit machines.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not in a world where everyone pays in stablecoins from a self-custodial wallet.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re also not in a world where crypto lives purely on exchanges as a speculative side\u00a0quest.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re in the\u00a0middle.<\/p>\n
And nothing captures that better than crypto credit\u00a0cards:<\/p>\n
Old rails (Visa \/ Mastercard)New assets (BTC, ETH, stablecoins, exchange balances)Wrapped in a product that looks exactly like the piece of plastic you already know how to\u00a0use<\/p>\n
The question I keep coming back to is\u00a0simple:<\/p>\n
Nice branding. Nice metal cards.
But is this real usage or just an expensive acquisition stunt?<\/p>\n
To answer that, you have to be clear about what we\u2019re even talking\u00a0about.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrypto card\u201d gets used for everything from prepaid gift cards to actual revolving credit. So let\u2019s separate the\u00a0mess:<\/p>\n
Crypto debit \/ prepaid cards: <\/strong>You load them with crypto or fiat, they convert to fiat at swipe, and run on Visa\/Mastercard. (Think early Bitcoin cards, or some Binance\/Crypto.com products in their simplest\u00a0form)Crypto rewards credit cards (Gemini Credit Card): <\/strong>You\u2019re borrowing fiat like any other credit card, but your rewards come in BTC, ETH, or other tokens. Gemini\u2019s card offers up to 3% back in one of 50+ cryptocurrencies and is integrated with MastercardCrypto rewards credit cards (Coinbase One Card): <\/strong>Standard credit line, but up to 4% back in bitcoin, with rewards scaled by the assets you hold on\u00a0CoinbaseHybrid \u201cTradFi \u2192 crypto\u201d bridges: <\/strong>Partnerships where a traditional card lets you funnel cash-back or points into crypto (for example, deals where Amex or Chase-style points or fiat are converted into BTC or USDC via Coinbase)<\/p>\n Under the hood, almost all of these run on traditional card networks. You\u2019re not swiping a blockchain. You\u2019re swiping a Visa that quietly talks to an exchange.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the point: these cards are less pure DeFi and more TradFi with a crypto skin and settlement layer.<\/p>\n Short answer: yes, but it\u2019s niche. Let\u2019s look at a few concrete examples.<\/p>\n In its H1 2025 \u201cState of Crypto Commerce & Payments\u201d report, Crypto.com highlights:<\/p>\n Accepted in 200+ countries via\u00a0Visa16% year-over-year increase in card spending per user in\u00a02024Strong growth in: fashion (+5% YoY in physical retail), luxury fashion (+30% YoY), electronics (+36%\u00a0YoY)<\/p>\n They also released a dedicated Crypto Card Consumer Spending Insights 2024 report breaking down categories, which basically shows people aren\u2019t just using the card once to screenshot, they\u2019re using it for day-to-day stuff.<\/p>\n That\u2019s real behavior, even if we\u2019re not at Visa-scale volume.<\/p>\n Gemini\u2019s earnings are even more explicit.<\/p>\n In its Q3 2025 shareholder letter and earnings commentary:<\/p>\n Credit card revenue:<\/strong> $8.5M in the quarter, up $3.7M\u00a0QoQNew card sign-ups:<\/strong> 64,000 in Q3 vs 17,000 in\u00a0Q2Receivable balances:<\/strong> $150.6M, up 61%\u00a0QoQTotal card spend:<\/strong> $350M+ in the quarter, with over 100,000 open\u00a0accounts<\/p>\n One analysis notes that 55% of new U.S. traders came in through the credit card\u00a0funnel.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not \u201ceveryone you know is using a crypto card.\u201d But it is very clearly \u201cthis is a meaningful product line with real swipe\u00a0volume.\u201d<\/p>\n Coinbase\u2019s new Coinbase One Card is even more straightforward about its\u00a0angle:<\/p>\n Up to 4% back in bitcoin on every\u00a0purchaseRewards tiered based on the assets you hold on\u00a0Coinbase<\/p>\n They haven\u2019t broken out card-only revenue yet, but the positioning is obvious: keep your assets on Coinbase, spend normally, let us drip BTC into your\u00a0balance.<\/p>\n So yes, people are using these cards. This is where it gets interesting.<\/p>\n Gemini\u2019s top line looks good, but the bottom line tells you how aggressive they\u2019re\u00a0being.<\/p>\n Q3 2025 net revenue: \u2248$50.6M, more than doubled\u00a0YoYNet loss: \u2248$159.5M, largely due to marketing and operating costs tied to growth, including the credit card\u00a0businessCard revenue: $8.5M in the quarter, on $350M+\u00a0spend<\/p>\n So the card is clearly driving user acquisition and engagement, clearly adding revenue, but embedded in a company that is still burning a lot of cash to\u00a0scale.<\/p>\n That\u2019s textbook loss-leader \/ growth engine behavior, not a tidy profit\u00a0center.<\/p>\n Crypto.com doesn\u2019t break out card profits separately, but their research arm talks about card performance constantly:<\/p>\n 16% YoY increase in spending per card user in\u00a02024Broad category spread of\u00a0usage<\/p>\n Combine that with the way Crypto.com markets itself with the card at the center and app and exchange around it, and it\u2019s pretty obvious the card is a sticky front door into their ecosystem, not just a marginal revenue\u00a0line.<\/p>\n Are they making fat margins on each swipe after rewards and interchange splits?<\/p>\n Probably not. But they\u2019re building a user base that treats Crypto.com as a daily-spend layer, not just a trading\u00a0app.<\/p>\n Coinbase\u2019s financials show big headlines around trading, stablecoin revenue, and subscription\/services growth, but the card itself is just one tile in that\u00a0mosaic.<\/p>\n Given the Coinbase One subscription requirement, the \u201chold more, earn more\u201d rewards design, it\u2019s pretty safe to say the card is primarily designed to lock users into Coinbase One, and keep balances inside the Coinbase ecosystem.<\/p>\n In other words: loyalty infrastructure, not a standalone business.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not in pure DeFi. We\u2019re not stuck in pure TradFi. We\u2019re in the middle, and crypto credit cards are what that middle looks like when it hits your\u00a0wallet.<\/p>\n Most people won\u2019t start their DeFi journey by booting up a self-custody wallet and bridging from L1 to an L2. They\u2019ll start with something familiar: a piece of plastic, a mobile app, and rewards they understand.<\/p>\n For exchanges, every swipe is a merchant category, a location, a time, and a pattern. That data is gold: better risk scoring, tighter fraud detection, targeted offers, and eventually, the ability to build credit and on-chain products informed by actual spending behavior.<\/p>\n These cards still run on Visa, Mastercard, and banks, but the value layer sits in BTC, ETH, stablecoins, or your exchange balance. You tap at Starbucks like you always have. The balance sheet underneath quietly shifts toward\u00a0crypto.<\/p>\n Right now, crypto credit cards look like\u00a0this:<\/p>\n Users:<\/strong> In a few years, a few different futures are plausible:<\/p>\n Cards stay the main bridge.<\/strong> So, are people actually using crypto credit\u00a0cards?<\/p>\n Yes.<\/p>\n Not at Visa-scale, not as the default way the average person pays for anything, but enough that you can say this is a real, growing behavior pattern, not just a marketing meme.<\/p>\n Right now, crypto credit cards are bridge tech: a way to keep living in a fiat world while your balance sheet slowly tilts toward\u00a0crypto.<\/p>\n They probably won\u2019t be the final form of crypto in everyday spending. Wallet-native payments, direct stablecoin rails, and on-chain identity will eventually make today\u2019s cards look\u00a0quaint.<\/p>\n But if you want to see the transition layer between TradFi and DeFi in the wild, don\u2019t stare at a\u00a0DEX.<\/p>\n Look at the plastic in people\u2019s wallets, and then look at where the rewards go. That\u2019s where the story\u00a0is.<\/p>\n Thank you for\u00a0reading.<\/p>\n APL<\/p>\n I hold positions in various digital assets and I personally use a Gemini credit card. Nothing here is financial, legal, or tax advice. It\u2019s a lens on how crypto credit cards fit into the broader transition between TradFi and DeFi, not a recommendation to swipe, borrow, or invest in any specific\u00a0product.<\/p>\n Sources: Yahoo Finance<\/a>, Coinbase<\/a>, Crypto.com<\/a>, Gemini<\/a>, The Block<\/a>, Phemex<\/a>, Coinbase<\/a>, Gemini<\/a>, The Business Research Company<\/a>, InsightAce Analytic<\/a>, Coin\u00a0Paper<\/a><\/p>\n Are People Actually Using Crypto Credit Cards?<\/a> was originally published in Coinmonks<\/a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Or are they just hype from crypto companies? Credit: Crypto\u00a0Reporter TL;DR We\u2019re in an in-between era: not full TradFi, not full DeFi. Crypto credit cards are what that transition looks like in your\u00a0wallet. Yes, people are actually using them enough to show real behavior, not just gimmicks, but they\u2019re still tiny compared to the traditional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":162616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162615"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=162615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/162616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=162615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=162615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=162615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}So\u2026 Are People Actually Using\u00a0These?<\/h3>\n
Longer answer: yes, and the behavior is interesting even if the scale is\u00a0small.<\/p>\nCrypto.com<\/strong> has quietly become the<\/em> \u201cnormal person uses this for groceries\u201d crypto card\u00a0story.<\/h4>\n
Gemini: A Small but Serious Credit\u00a0Business<\/h4>\n
Coinbase One Card: BTC Rewards as a\u00a0Hook<\/h4>\n
No, they are not yet anywhere close to traditional credit cards in volume.
But they are past the point of \u201cmarketing gimmick with no real\u00a0data.\u201d<\/p>\nAre Issuers Actually Making Money, or Is This Just a Fancy\u00a0Funnel?<\/h3>\n
Gemini: Great Engagement, Ugly P&L (for\u00a0Now)<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Crypto.com: Card as a Core Identity\u00a0Product<\/h4>\n
Coinbase: Strategic Adjacency<\/h4>\n
Crypto Credit Cards as the Bridge Between TradFi and\u00a0DeFi<\/h3>\n
\u201cCool, I get BTC or stablecoin rewards on stuff I buy\u00a0anyway.\u201dExchanges:<\/strong>
\u201cWe get stickier users, transaction data, and a new revenue line even if it\u2019s subsidized.\u201dCard networks & banks:<\/strong>
\u201cWe get to learn crypto behavior without blowing up our risk\u00a0models.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crypto rewards and balances remain layered on top of traditional card rails; stablecoins are mostly a behind-the-scenes settlement tool.Cards fade into the background.
<\/strong>Wallet-native payments, account-to-account transfers, and stablecoin rails take over, and crypto cards become just one of many interfaces.Politics fragments the map.<\/strong>
Some jurisdictions love crypto rewards and open integration.
Others clamp down on using credit to buy or spend crypto, and push CBDCs or tightly-controlled bank products\u00a0instead.<\/p>\nConclusion<\/h3>\n
Footnotes<\/h3>\n