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Head-to-head · Crypto Cards

ether.fi Cash vs Crypto.com Card ether.fi Cash leads by 2 points.

ether.fi Cash scores 2 points above Crypto.com Card, led by cost abroad and tax on spending. ether.fi Cash ranks #1 and Crypto.com Card #2 of 9 published crypto cards. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.

ether.fi Cash79
Crypto.com Card77
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #1 and #2 of 9
Methodology v2026.10.18Ranking snapshot Evidence verified through 4 published criteria5 score dimensions Receipt #cc-VS-ETHER-FI-CASH-VS-CRYPTO-COM-CARD-ae382f93
Published verdictRanking snapshot 3 November 2026

ether.fi Cash leads by 2 points

ether.fi Cash scores 2 points above Crypto.com Card, led by cost abroad and tax on spending.

ether.fi Cash #1 of 979
Crypto.com Card #2 of 977
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termether.fi Cash leads on 2 of 4 published criteria; Crypto.com Card on 1. The terms sum to the gap.
Termether.fi CashCrypto.com CardWeightPoints
Cost abroad8/106/107.9+4.1for ether.fi Cash+2.1 of 32
Named issuer4/107/105−3.9for Crypto.com Card−2.0 of 32
Tax on spending8/107/104.8+1.2for ether.fi Cash+0.6 of 32
Net of the terms+1.4
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.1
Reproduced gap+1.6
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below7977+2.0

Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.

Quick facts

At a glance

2 of 3 rows read the same for both.
Factether.fi CashCrypto.com Card
PricingSnapshotFrom the Fee Schedule the cardholder agreement incorporates by reference, https://help.ether.fi/en/articles/303623-what-are-the-transaction-limits-and-fees-for-personal-cash-credit-cards (HTTP 200, fetched 28 September 2026, dateModified 17 September 2026): "Where a transaction requires a currency conversion, ether.fi applies the prevailing FX base rate (~1%) and may add a foreign exchange margin on top of that base rate." | "The added FX fee is charged in addition to the underlying FX base rate and is reflected in the converted amount applied to the transaction." | "Membership Level" / "Added FX fee": "Core" "0-0.5%", "Luxe" "0-0.25%", "Pinnacle" "None", "VIP" "None" | ATM withdrawals, the same row for Core, Luxe and Pinnacle: "$1000 per transaction. Maximum of five(5) ATM withdrawals in any rolling 24 hour period ($5,000 total)." (the August row allowed half as much per transaction and three withdrawals a day) | "The Visa FX calculator provides indicative rates, but the final settlement rate can differ due to intermediary bank fees, network adjustments, or timing differences in how Visa processes the refund." The binding International agreement (https://etherfi.gitbook.io/etherfi/legal/ether.fi-legal/ether.fi-cash-cardholder-agreement-inc.-international.md, "Last Modified: September 8, 2026"): "This includes a base 1% foreign transaction fee ("FX Base Rate"). For Core tier members, the fee is up to an additional 50bps on top of the FX Base Rate. For Luxe tier members, the fee is up to an additional 25bps on top of the FX Base Rate." Cost of reaching the lower-markup tiers (https://help.ether.fi/en/articles/303625-how-do-membership-levels-work, dateModified 21 September 2026): Luxe by "5K pts" a month, "$15K" deposited into Liquid, "30K ETHFI" staked, or "$199/yr"; Pinnacle by "25K pts", "$100K", "150K ETHFI" or "$999/yr". Physical card (https://help.ether.fi/en/articles/776152-membership-level-benefits, dateModified 27 September 2026): Core "Free; shipping fee applies". Borrow Mode credit (https://help.ether.fi/en/articles/326983-understanding-your-cash-card-borrow-mode-vs-direct-pay-mode, "August 20, 2026"): "variable APY, set by the underlying lending market for each asset (borrowing runs through Aave v4 markets) — not a fixed rate"; the fixed APY quoted in August is gone. NOT PUBLISHED, cited to the page that should carry it: the per-withdrawal ATM fee at Core and Luxe (the membership-benefits page lists ATM withdrawals as "Available" at Core and Luxe and "Free, up to 10 withdrawals per month" at Pinnacle and VIP, naming no charge) and the Core shipping fee.FEE TABLE (EEA) — https://help.crypto.com/en/articles/5977463-crypto-com-prepaid-visa-card-fees-and-limits-europe-for-users-with-a-residential-address-in-europe (HTTP 200, fetched 28 September 2026, dated 31 July 2026): "Debit / Credit card top-up: 1%" | "ATM Withdrawal: 2% on amounts above the monthly free ATM limit" | "Free ATM limit (Monthly)" "€200" "€400" "€800" "€800" "€1,000" (Midnight / Ruby / Indigo-Jade / Icy-Rose / Obsidian) | "Close Account: €50" | "Physical Card Issuance:" "Midnight: €4.99" | "Inactivity: €5 per month of inactivity will be charged after 12 months of no cardholder-initiated financial activity on the card unless activity resumes." and "Effective 1 October 2026 fee will be updated to € 6." | "Foreign Transaction Fee (Till 30 September 2026):" Midnight only, "Within the EU and UK" "0.2%", "Outside the EU and UK" "2.0%", "Other Card Tiers: No fee" | "Foreign Transaction Fee (Effective 1 October 2026):" Midnight "Within the EU & UK : 0.2%" "Outside the EU & UK : 2.0%"; Ruby "Outside the EU & UK : No fee up to EUR 400 per calendar month, 2.0% thereafter"; Jade and Indigo "No fee up to EUR 800 per calendar month, 2.0% thereafter"; "Other Card Tiers: No fee". The October schedule takes effect three days after this read. TIER COST — https://crypto.com/cards (HTTP 200 via 301 to https://crypto.com/en-de/cards/, fetched 28 September 2026), "Subscription fee / Lockup": Midnight "Free"; Ruby "€3.99/month or €39.90 yearly (16% off) or €450 12-month CRO staking"; Jade/Indigo "€24.99/month or €249.90 yearly (16% off) or €4,500 12-month CRO staking"; Icy/Rose "€45,000 12-month CRO staking"; Obsidian "€450,000 12-month CRO staking". The same page prices no fee itself: "ATM withdrawal fees, interbank exchange rates, top-up fees, and other charges may apply depending on your jurisdiction and card tier." US CARDHOLDERS — https://help.crypto.com/en/articles/5966563-crypto-com-prepaid-visa-card-fees-and-limits-united-states (HTTP 200, fetched 28 September 2026): "Midnight, Ruby, Jade, Indigo: 3% on all non-USD purchases and ATM withdrawals" / "Rose, Icy, Obsidian: No fee"; "Credit – 2.99%"; "PayPal Top-Up: 2.1%". UNPRICED on every page read: the crypto-to-fiat conversion spread charged at top-up, and the FX base rate the 0.2% / 2.0% / 3% sits on; the cardholder agreement (https://crypto.com/document/eu_card, still "Last update: 30 April 2025") says only "at the prevailing exchange rate".
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, asiaus, europe, asia
From the published criteria

Which should you pick?

ether.fi Cash

79#1 of 9
Leads
Pick it when
Pick ether.fi Cash if cost abroad matters most — it scores 8/10 to Crypto.com Card's 6/10 there (weight 33).
Strength
Swipe cost abroad — 8/10
Tradeoff
The added FX margin falls to 0-0.25% at Luxe and to 'None' only at Pinnacle and VIP; on 2026-09-28 the levels page sold Luxe for '$199/yr' and Pinnacle for '$999/yr', beside points, Liquid-deposit and staking routes, the stake now '30K ETHFI' / '150K ETHFI' — a price-volatile position that itself carries only a 20% LTV and a 50% liquidation threshold as collateral. So the buyer who stakes rather than pays takes on a token position that can fall while they hold it, and the ETHFI they stake to make the card cheaper is tied for the worst collateral in ether.fi's own table. Underneath that: at Core and Luxe — the two tiers essentially everyone starts in — ether.fi publishes ATM limits but never publishes the ATM fee, while explicitly marking ATM withdrawals as 'Free' only at Pinnacle and VIP. The one cost the fee page will not name is the one it prices for someone else.

Crypto.com Card

77#2 of 9
Pick it when
Pick Crypto.com Card if named issuer matters most — it scores 7/10 to ether.fi Cash's 4/10 there (weight 21).
Strength
Programme survival — 7/10
Tradeoff
Until 30 September 2026 you pay the foreign transaction fee precisely because you did not pay for the card; from 1 October 2026 Ruby, Jade and Indigo subscribers pay it too. On 2026-09-28 the EEA schedule read 'Foreign Transaction Fee (Till 30 September 2026): Midnight: All non-EUR purchases and ATM transactions will be charged as follows Other Card Tiers: No fee' (0.2% inside the EU/UK, 2.0% outside): until that date the free Midnight card is the ONLY EEA tier charged an FX fee. From 1 October 2026 the same article extends that 0.2% inside the EU/UK to Ruby, Jade and Indigo — a documented fee INCREASE for subscribers who are already paying €3.99 or €24.99 a month, or who have €450 to €4,500 of CRO locked up for twelve months precisely to avoid this. None of it appears anywhere on crypto.com/cards, which answers 'What are the fees?' with 'ATM withdrawal fees, interbank exchange rates, top-up fees, and other charges may apply depending on your jurisdiction and card tier.' A buyer who reads only the page that sells the card cannot discover the number they will be charged, cannot discover that it differs from 0.2% to 3% depending on which country they live in, and cannot discover that it rises for Ruby, Jade and Indigo on 1 October 2026.
Self-identify in 10 seconds

Which one is actually for you?

ether.fi CashLeads

Choose ether.fi Cash if cost abroad matters most

  • Cost abroad: 8/10 against 6/10 for Crypto.com Card (weight 33)
  • Tax on spending: 8/10 against 7/10 for Crypto.com Card (weight 20)
Crypto.com Card

Choose Crypto.com Card if named issuer matters most

  • Named issuer: 7/10 against 4/10 for ether.fi Cash (weight 21)
Criterion by criterion

Scorecard

Published criteria · weight in points of 868 of 8 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology

Cost abroad

by 2 of 10weight 7.9 of 86ether.fi Cash leads
ether.fi Cash8 out of 10
Crypto.com Card6 out of 10

Card reliability

weight 6.2 of 86Tie
ether.fi Cash7 out of 10
Crypto.com Card7 out of 10

Named issuer

by 3 of 10weight 5 of 86Crypto.com Card leads
ether.fi Cash4 out of 10
Crypto.com Card7 out of 10

Tax on spending

by 1 of 10weight 4.8 of 86ether.fi Cash leads
ether.fi Cash8 out of 10
Crypto.com Card7 out of 10

Score dimensions

weights sum to 86

The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30. A weight marked “constant here” belongs to a dimension every ranked product in the category holds at the same value: it still counts in the total, and it orders nothing here.

Availabilityweight 20 of 86
ether.fi Cash12/20Crypto.com Card12/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
ether.fi Cash16.6/30Crypto.com Card16/30
ether.fi Cash leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
ether.fi Cash2.7/10Crypto.com Card2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
ether.fi Cash3.2/8Crypto.com Card3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
ether.fi Cash8.3/18Crypto.com Card8.3/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order

Choose ether.fi Cash unless the term Crypto.com Card leads on is the one you are buying.

Pick Crypto.com Card if named issuer matters most — it scores 7/10 to ether.fi Cash's 4/10 there (weight 21).

The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .

From the published order

Next best action

If this isn't your case

Other matchups worth comparing

How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
  • Regulatory failure: no licence where you are, or a forced market exit.
    Scored by Whose licence is actually behind this card, and will they even tell me their name? · 21% (ether.fi Cash 4/10, Crypto.com Card 7/10)
    Scored by Does buying a coffee create a taxable disposal, and will they hand me the record? · 20% (ether.fi Cash 8/10, Crypto.com Card 7/10)
  • Exit failure: you cannot get out at par, on time, or with what is yours.
    Scored by Will this card still work next month, and who has to fail for it to stop? · 26% (ether.fi Cash 7/10, Crypto.com Card 7/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Control failure, Liveness failure, Custody failure, Insolvency failure, Execution failure, Information failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: What does one swipe abroad actually cost me, and can I work that out before I sign up? (33%).
Questions

Frequently asked questions

ether.fi Cash scores 2 points above Crypto.com Card, led by cost abroad and tax on spending. Published scores, out of 100: ether.fi Cash 79 (rank 1 of 9 crypto cards), Crypto.com Card 77 (rank 2 of 9).

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Written and reviewed by Founder
Reviewed Next review by Methodology v2026.10.18
How this page is reviewed

Reviewed means both products compared here was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.

Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.

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