If you’ve been wanting a card that can fund your crypto portfolio, the latest credit card from Coinbase and Cardless might be the answer.
The Coinbase One card offers up to 4% back in bitcoin for your purchases. However, the reward rate is based on how many assets you’re holding with Coinbase and details aren’t yet disclosed on the card’s website. We’ve reached out to Coinbase for clarification and will update the story if we hear back.
“Partnering with Cardless has let us build a deeply customized and secure card product that aligns with our mission to increase economic freedom and makes it easy for people to earn rewards with the power to grow,” Max Branzburg, Coinbase’s head of consumer and business products, said in a statement.
The card is currently waitlisted with a planned fall rollout. You’ll need to be a Coinbase One member to qualify, which will cost $49.99 annually when it becomes available “soon.”
Before you sign up for the waitlist, there’s one important caveat you’ll need to keep in mind before you redeem your rewards.
What does the Coinbase One Card bring to the table?
The new Coinbase card will offer up to 4% back in bitcoin on your purchases, depending on how many assets you’re holding with Coinbase. Those assets could simply be USD or USDC, so you won’t necessarily need to invest heavily in crypto right away to reach the higher bitcoin-back rate.
It’s not clear whether you’ll need to have $10,000 in assets to reach that 4% rate or $1,000, but it does look like the card starts at 2% back in bitcoin, which is a decent rate for a no-annual-fee card. But with a $50 annual fee required to maintain a Coinbase One membership, you can find a free comparable cash-back rate.
Because it will also be an American Express card, it’ll come with a number of shopping and travel protections, including retail protection, extended warranty protection, lost luggage insurance and trip cancellation/trip interruption insurance, among others. It’s also a stainless steel card, if you’re into that type of thing.
You can sign up for the waitlist here.
How do crypto rewards differ from cash back?
When you earn rewards in crypto for making purchases, they’ll be added to your Coinbase wallet. How much your bitcoin is worth will also fluctuate, whereas cash back is always worth 1 cent per percent. Another difference is what happens when you realize gains.
If you cash out the bitcoin you earned, you’ll need to report it and pay taxes on it. When you use your cash back, for example, as a statement credit, you don’t need to report it when tax season comes around.
If that sounds too risky to you, I’d recommend you stick with a traditional cash-back card that fits your spending habits. For example, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card* is a good, flat-rate, no annual fee rewards card that provides cash back for every purchase. Or, if you’re looking for a higher rewards rate for specific purchases, consider the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express.
*All information about the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
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