# Crypto Cards Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "Crypto Cards", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

Claiming 'KYC-Free Global Payments', Inevitable Shutdown Within 6 Months

Cryptocurrency cards marketed as "No-KYC global payment" solutions are fundamentally unsustainable and inevitably face shutdown within 6 months due to structural and regulatory realities. These cards rely on exploiting corporate card programs, where a company undergoes business verification (KYB) to issue cards to "employees" without individual KYC. However, Visa and Mastercard's strictly regulated networks mandate that all end-users must be identifiable. When these projects gain traction and transaction volume increases, they attract scrutiny from card networks or issuing banks. Compliance reviews quickly identify the misuse of the corporate card model, leading to account freezes, project termination, and often frozen user funds. Users are attracted to these cards due to privacy concerns or lack of access, but they bear significant risks. Legally, users are not bank customers; their funds are controlled by the company holding the master account, offering no deposit insurance or consumer protection. When projects collapse, users face frozen balances and difficult refund processes. Legitimate alternatives exist, such as low-limit prepaid cards or gift cards purchased with crypto, but they operate within strict boundaries. The only structurally honest path to sustainable no-KYC payments lies outside the Visa/Mastercard duopoly, by building crypto-native networks that integrate directly with payment acquirers, though this approach is more complex and less common. Ultimately, any card bearing a Visa or Mastercard logo that promises high limits without KYC is built on a temporary and fragile foundation destined to fail.

比推02/10 12:11

Claiming 'KYC-Free Global Payments', Inevitable Shutdown Within 6 Months

比推02/10 12:11

Artemis Crypto Payment Card Report: $18 Billion Market Size, The Silent Explosion of Crypto Payments

Artemis Research reveals that the crypto payments card market has grown into a $18 billion industry, with monthly transaction volumes increasing 15-fold since early 2023. The report breaks down the crypto card stack into three layers: Networks (Visa and Mastercard), Issuers & Program Managers (e.g., Baanx, Bridge), and Consumer Apps (wallets and exchanges like MetaMask and Phantom). Visa dominates with over 90% of on-chain card transaction volume, largely due to early infrastructure partnerships. A key structural shift is the rise of full-stack issuers like Rain and Reap, which now issue cards and settle directly as Visa Principal Members—bypassing sponsor banks for greater control and better economics. Geographic usage varies: In India, crypto cards serve as collateralized credit solutions, while in Argentina, they function as inflation-hedged stablecoin debit cards. In developed markets, crypto cards target high-value users who hold significant stablecoin balances and seek to spend them. The report concludes that as stablecoin adoption grows, crypto cards will scale accordingly, acting as essential infrastructure for bringing digital dollars into the real economy.

marsbit01/21 06:29

Artemis Crypto Payment Card Report: $18 Billion Market Size, The Silent Explosion of Crypto Payments

marsbit01/21 06:29

Crypto Payment Cards in 2025: 40k Monthly Active Users, Less Than $100 Average Spend Per User

In 2025, crypto payment cards transitioned from niche experimentation to practical adoption, showing exponential growth in deposits and spending. Monthly active users reached 40,000 by October 2025, with average spending under $100 per user, indicating use for small daily transactions rather than speculative purchases. Stablecoins, primarily USDT and USDC, dominated deposits (nearly 100%), reinforcing a debit-like, low-volatility spending model. The @Rain card series led in usage, supported by its role as infrastructure for multiple card projects. Ethereum and Polygon remained top chains for deposits, though multi-chain usage grew due to lower costs and improved routing. Key challenges include privacy risks from on-chain traceability, reliance on centralized service partners, and limited product differentiation. Looking to 2026, growth is expected to focus on economic sustainability, potential credit-based models, and profitability beyond user acquisition.

marsbit01/07 07:41

Crypto Payment Cards in 2025: 40k Monthly Active Users, Less Than $100 Average Spend Per User

marsbit01/07 07:41

Pouring Cold Water: Crypto Cards Might Have No Future

Crypto cards are merely a temporary solution to bridge cryptocurrency into mainstream adoption and global payments, but they fundamentally contradict core crypto values of decentralization and permissionless access. These cards are not true crypto products; they rely on traditional banking infrastructure (like Visa/Mastercard) and add abstraction layers that introduce extra fees, compliance risks, and centralization. They lack privacy, require KYC, and do not enable direct spending of cryptocurrencies like stablecoins or ETH. Instead, they convert crypto to fiat, reinforcing the existing financial gatekeepers. While useful short-term for user convenience, crypto cards are not the end goal. The future should enable direct crypto payments without intermediaries. Most crypto card companies simply white-label services from providers like Rain, rather than building innovative infrastructure. Notably, EtherFi offers a more crypto-native approach by using crypto as collateral for loans instead of selling assets, thus avoiding taxable events. In summary, crypto cards are a transitional tool that may eventually become obsolete as the industry moves towards truly decentralized, direct payment systems.

深潮12/13 03:24

Pouring Cold Water: Crypto Cards Might Have No Future

深潮12/13 03:24

Why Crypto Cards Are Doomed to Fail?

Crypto cards are a temporary solution designed to bridge traditional payment systems with the cryptocurrency world, but they are ultimately doomed to fail. They rely on centralized banking infrastructure, depend on compliance with traditional financial regulations, and lack the privacy and decentralization that are core to crypto values. These cards function as an abstraction layer, adding extra fees and complexity while still being controlled by entities like Visa or Mastercard. They do not replace traditional payment systems but instead reinforce them. Most crypto cards operate like liquidity bridges, converting crypto to fiat for spending, which incurs taxable events and additional costs. They also fail to provide true financial inclusivity, as users from restricted countries cannot access them, contradicting crypto’s ethos of equality. While companies continue developing crypto cards to lock users into their ecosystems (e.g., MetaMask using Linea), these efforts are largely superficial, relying on third-party services like Rain for infrastructure. The only model that aligns with crypto principles is EtherFi, which allows users to spend against crypto collateral without selling assets, avoiding taxable events and embodying a true DeFi-TradFi hybrid. Ultimately, crypto cards are a flawed transitional product, not a long-term innovation.

marsbit12/12 11:38