Best Bitcoin cards

Spending bitcoin with a card

A shop does not take your bitcoin. When you pay, the card company sells the BTC you hold, either at that moment or when you top up, and the shop receives ordinary money through the card network. In the app you see BTC. At the till, it is your local currency.

Because BTC is sold every time, the conversion spread matters. It is the gap between the market price of BTC and the price the card uses, and it applies even when no fee is listed. The price of Bitcoin also moves between the day you top up and the day you pay.

Taxes are the other thing to look up. In many countries, paying with crypto counts as selling it, and that sale can be taxable. The rules differ by country, so check yours before you rely on a card for daily spending. This page is not tax advice.

Earning bitcoin rewards

Some cards pay their rewards in BTC. A card that is on this list only for that reason shows “Paid in BTC” as its reward in the ranked list.

Rewards in BTC are worth whatever BTC is worth when you receive them, and that can rise or fall before you spend them. They can also come with conditions. A higher rate may depend on a paid plan or on locking up a token, which is a staking requirement with its own price risk. Our default estimate leaves those conditional rewards out.

Credit cards that pay BTC rewards work differently from debit and prepaid cards, because they lend you money and send a bill. For those, read the crypto credit cards list.

Which network to send bitcoin on

You can send BTC on the Bitcoin network itself, which is called on-chain. Where a card lists them, you may also see options such as Lightning, or wrapped BTC, a token on another blockchain that stands in for BTC. Each is a separate top-up network, with its own fees and waiting time.

Each card page lists the networks it accepts. Before you send anything:

• Send only on a network the card lists. An address that looks valid on another network can still be wrong for the card, and funds sent that way can be lost for good.
• Send a small test amount first. Wait until it shows in your balance, then send the rest.
• Compare the network fees. On-chain fees change with how busy the network is, and they go to the network, not to the card.

What to compare

• Availability. A card is only useful if you can get it where you live. Eligibility is checked per country.
• Conversion spread. How the card converts BTC, and when.
• FX fee. The FX fee applies when the card’s currency differs from the shop’s. If you travel, start from the no FX fee list.
• Top-up fee. What each top-up costs, and which networks the card accepts.
• Rewards and their conditions. What is paid, in which asset, and what you must do or hold to get it.
• Custody. If you want your BTC to stay in your own wallet until you pay, see the self-custody list.

Our ranking turns these into one estimated net cost. Fees we have not verified are left out and flagged, never counted as zero. The methodology explains how.

How many Bitcoin cards are in your country

Many cards are open only to some countries, so the list changes with where you live. Across all countries it ranks 28 cards. A few examples:

• United States: 4 cards
• Germany: 13 cards
• United Kingdom: 5 cards
• Brazil: 6 cards

Choose your country in the Card Finder to see the cards you can get, with a cost estimate for your own spending.