Crypto.com Visa Card Review

One of the world’s largest cryptocurrency websites, Crypto.com has just made its Visa card available to Canadians. While this product may be new to Canada, it debuted in Singapore in 2018. The following year it launched in the United States before being made to Europeans in 2020.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about cryptocurrency. I have a basic understanding of how it works, but I don’t invest in it. I have no association with Crypto.com or any cryptocurrency out there. If you’re a cryptocurrency investor, you’ll need to do your own due diligence. In this Crypto.com Visa Card review, I’m strictly looking at the benefits and why it may appeal to some people.

Crypto.com Visa benefits

As you can see, there are 5 tiers of Visa cards available from Crypto.com and all of them have no annual fee. Qualifications are based on your stake. The higher your stake, the more benefits you get. CRO stake requires you to hold CRO in your Crypto.com wallet for a period of 6 months before you can access your funds.

The following cards are available based on your CRO stake:

• Obsidian – 5,000,000 stake required
• Frosted Rose Gold / Icy White – 500,000 stake required
• Royal Indigo / Jade Green – 50,000 stake required
• Ruby Steel – 5,000 stake required
• Midnight Blue – No stake required

For reference, at the time of this writing (Jan. 15, 2020) 1 CRO token is worth about 7 cents US or about 9 cents Canadian. For those that are new to cryptocurrency, the Midnight Blue card tier doesn’t require any staking and you can still earn 1% cashback with purchases. If you want to enjoy the 100% rebate on Spotify and Netflix, Ruby Steel, Jade Green and Royal Indigo are definitely what you need. It wouldn’t be very difficult to get the Royal Indigo / Jade Green tier as a casual cryptocurrency investor. However, if you want Frosted Rose Gold / Icy White or Obsidian, you’d have to be a pretty serious investor.

The earn rate is where things get interesting. On the low end of the scale, you’ll earn 1% back in CRO tokens with the Midnight Blue card, but you can get as much as 8% back if you have the Obsidian card as long as you continue to stake. Obviously, if you use your credit card a lot, you can earn quite a bit back in CRO tokens. It is also worth noting that the list of merchants that don’t give you CRO rewards is quite extensive for merchant categories such as: wire transfers, utilities, insurance, stocks, loans etc.

Depending on the tier of card you have, you can also get rebates on Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Expedia, and Airbnb purchases. You’re literally getting a rebate on your purchases as long as you’re paying with your Crypto.com Visa Card. This offer is not a partnership with the merchants. Crypto.com is just giving it to its cardholders.

If your stake drops below the thresholds, you would lose all the rebates and your earn rate drops to the following:

• Obsidian – 2%
• Frosted Rose Gold / Icy White – 1.75%
• Royal Indigo / Jade Green – 1.5%
• Ruby Steel – 1%
• Midnight Blue – 1%

Regardless if you have a stake or non-stake, you can withdraw money with your Crypto.com Visa Card without having to pay insane fees. There are monthly limits with no fees which are determined by your tier. Once you exceed the limit, you’d be charged 2%. The funds would need to be converted to fiat within your app before you can withdraw it. Note that the local ATM you’re using will likely charge a fee.

Another great feature available is no foreign transaction fees. Most credit cards in Canada charge a fee of 2.5% when you make a purchase that’s not in Canadian dollars, but not with the Crypto.com credit card. You have a monthly limit where there are no fees, but even the most basic card gives you a US $2,000 limit which is quite generous. If you do happen to exceed the cap, you’d only pay a fee of 0.5%.

Airport lounge access is also available to Obsidian, Frosted Rose Gold, Icy White, Royal Indigo, and Jade Green card holders.

Who is the Crypto.com Visa Card good for?

If you’re into cryptocurrency and you use Crypto.com, then this credit card will likely appeal to you. It’s an easy way to earn additional CRO tokens with your everyday spending. Although the value of cryptocurrency can fluctuate, some people find it to be a valuable resource.

The Crypto.com ecosystem, or rather, the utility of CRO tokens can be extensive. Besides the credit card, there’s an app that allows you to manage your tokens. You can use your tokens to invest or you can cash them out. Alternatively, you can even get a loan that uses your CRO tokens as collateral.

Overall, the Crypto.com credit card is just another tool for people who collect CRO tokens. It’s the app that does most of the work since that’s where all the management happens.

Crypto.com Visa Card pros

• High earn rate
• Rebates with popular merchants
• No foreign transaction fees
• Reasonable way to be introduced to cryptocurrency
• You can spend your cryptocurrency with this card

The Crypto.com Visa Card is unique in the sense that it can appeal to both novice and experienced cryptocurrency investors. For beginners, you can essentially earn CRO tokens by making purchases. You don’t need to put any of your own money into the game.

However, if you’re invested in CRO tokens, the credit card is a way to increase your position. Once you get to the higher tiers, the additional rebates you get are impressive.

Crypto.com Visa Card cons

• The value of CRO tokens fluctuates
• You need to have a stake to fully enjoy the best benefits
• Doesn’t automatically exchange to fiat when making purchases
• You don’t earn rewards everywhere
• Only beneficial if you use services from Crypto.com

Only those who are interested in cryptocurrency and use Crypto.com will really benefit from this credit card. Of course, the value of CRO tokens can also fluctuate which might be a concern for some people.

When making purchases, you need to convert your CRO tokens to fiat within your app first since it’s not done automatically. As mentioned earlier, there also quite a few merchants that won’t earn you rewards when making purchases.

Final thoughts

The Crypto.com Visa Card is very interesting and will likely be a popular card for those who use Crypto.com or those who want to dab into cryptocurrency. For those who don’t understand cryptocurrency and prefer traditional benefits, then getting a regular credit card is the way to go.

To be clear, I’m not advocating cryptocurrency or Crypto.com, I’m simply stating my opinion on what’s available. You need to do your own research if you’re going to invest into cryptocurrency.