Ether Fi Card
Borrow against your ETH or restaked ETH, spend the loan on a Visa card, and let the collateral keep earning yield.
Ether.fi Cash Card: Fees, Cashback, Borrow Mode And Vault Custody
What is Ether Fi Card?
Ether.fi Cash is a Visa debit and credit card that lets you spend or borrow against ETH and stablecoins from a self-custody vault, with up to 3 percent cashback and no annual fee.
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Ether Fi Card Overview
Ether.fi Cash is a Visa spending card tied to a vault you control on chain. It is not a prepaid exchange balance and not a bank checking account. You fund the vault with supported crypto, then either spend stablecoins directly or borrow against your collateral. The card works at Visa merchants and loads into Apple Pay and Google Pay.
The card fits people who already hold ETH, restaked ETH, or stablecoins and want to pay for rent, groceries, or subscriptions without selling any of it. It suits ETH holders who treat a sale as a tax problem and would rather borrow against weETH or wETH. It also suits stablecoin users chasing cashback higher than a typical bank card, and travelers spending in USD or EUR who want a lower FX margin. It does not suit anyone in a country the card blocks, anyone who wants bank-style deposit insurance, anyone who plans to rely on ATMs, or anyone who won't complete KYC.
Two modes handle spending. Direct Pay spends USDC or LiquidUSD straight from your vault, no interest attached. If the stablecoin balance runs short, the payment fails, which keeps it closer to a debit card. Borrow Mode works the other way: you post supported assets as collateral, then spend borrowed USDC or EURC while the collateral itself can keep earning staking or vault yield. Interest starts the moment you borrow, and reviewers commonly cite a rate near 4% APY with no grace period. Loan-to-value differs by asset, with stablecoins sitting near 90%, wETH and weETH near 55%, and ETHFI lower still. If collateral value drops too far, spending can freeze and the position can face liquidation, so this side of the card is closer to DeFi credit than a bank credit line.
Cashback is tiered rather than flat. The headline rate reviewers cite is 3% on eligible spend for the free Core tier and the paid Luxe and Pinnacle tiers, stepping down once monthly spend crosses certain bands, with an invite-only VIP tier listed at 4% on the official site. Payout asset has changed across ether.fi's own help pages over time, so the in-app ledger is the only reliable source for what you'll actually receive that month. ATM withdrawals, P2P transfers, and some merchant categories often earn nothing.
What sets this card apart from a typical exchange card is the vault itself. Instead of a centralized float sitting on a platform's balance sheet, your funds sit in a smart contract vault, and the collateral behind Borrow Mode keeps earning yield while it backs your spending. That's the whole pitch: spend against assets that stay productive instead of cashing them out. The tradeoff is that you're trusting vault code and a lending market instead of a bank, and if you use Borrow Mode you need to watch your loan-to-value the way you'd watch a margin position, not the way you'd watch a credit card statement.
Settlement runs on Optimism after the card's move off Scroll in April 2026, with Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, and HyperEVM listed as top-up chains in ether.fi's technical docs. Withdrawal routes are narrower than deposit routes, so it's worth checking the live deposit widget before sending anything, rather than trusting an older screenshot or guide.
Ether Fi Card Key features
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Non-custodial Safe vault
Each user gets a smart contract vault instead of an exchange balance. Ether.fi says it cannot move your funds without your approval, though the vault code and cross-chain bridges still carry their own risk.
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Direct Pay spending
You spend USDC or LiquidUSD straight from your vault like a debit card and pay no borrow interest. If your stablecoin balance runs short, the payment fails.
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Borrow Mode credit line
Post ETH, weETH, wETH, or stablecoins as collateral and spend borrowed USDC or EURC while the collateral keeps earning yield. Reviewers commonly cite about 4 percent APY with no grace period, and loan-to-value runs near 90 percent on stablecoins but only around 55 percent on ETH assets.
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Tiered stablecoin cashback
Core, Luxe, and Pinnacle pay 3 percent cashback on an initial spending band, then the rate steps down as your monthly spend rises. Invite-only VIP is listed at 4 percent, and the payout token has shifted between wETH, USDC, and SCR across different help pages, so check the in-app ledger for what applies now.
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Virtual and physical cards
Virtual cards work right after KYC and funding, and physical cards opened for order in January 2026. Core members often pay a refundable deposit or fee near 40 to 50 dollars, while higher tiers get a free physical or metal card.
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Apple Pay and Google Pay
You can tokenize the virtual card into either wallet and tap to pay in stores. Some users report fewer declines through the wallets than with typed-in card numbers on foreign purchases.
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Multi-chain funding
The core vault sits on Optimism, with Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, and HyperEVM listed as top-up chains, and some reviewer maps add Solana and Tron for certain assets. Withdrawal routes are narrower than deposit routes, so confirm the token and chain in the live deposit screen before you send anything.
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Yield on idle collateral
Liquid vault deposits and cash balances can keep earning staking or restaking yield while you spend against them. The card does not create this yield itself, it lets you spend against assets that stay productive instead of selling them.
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FX and ATM costs
USD spending carries no extra card-side fee, and EUR is marketed at 0 percent FX during a current beta, though other currencies add about 1 percent on top of Visa's own rate. ATM cash costs about 2 percent and is capped near 250 dollars per try, three tries a day, and it earns no cashback.
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Licensed transmitter, not a bank
The card is issued through Third National, a Puerto Rico licensed money transmitter, not a US bank deposit account, so the vault carries no FDIC insurance. Marketing mentions balance protection up to 500,000 dollars per account, but ether.fi says that coverage is not live yet.
Ether Fi Card Fees
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Annual fee No annual fee is charged on any named tier (Core, Luxe, Pinnacle).
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FX spread USD spend adds 0 percent extra; EUR is marketed at 0 percent FX in beta; other currencies add about 1 percent on top of Visa's rate, with some Core testers measuring an all-in foreign cost near 1.7 percent, while higher tiers cut the ether.fi margin toward 0.
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ATM withdrawals About 2 percent per withdrawal, capped around 250 USD per try and three tries per 24 hours (roughly 750 USD a day), and ATM cash does not earn cashback.
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Fiat conversion and rails Fiat-to-crypto conversion inside the app runs about 0.2 percent on many tiers, with monthly fiat rail caps around 10,000 USD on Core, 50,000 USD on Luxe, and 200,000 USD on Pinnacle.
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Card and borrow fees A physical Core card carries a deposit or fee in the 40 to 50 USD range, extra virtual cards run about 10 USD each after the free allotment, and Borrow Mode interest is variable, commonly cited near 4 percent APY with no grace period.
Ether Fi Card Supported networks
Optimism
Ethereum
Base
Arbitrum- HyperEVM
Solana
Tron- Scroll
How to use Ether Fi Card
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Verify your identity
Open the ether.fi app or the Cash web flow and start an account with email or wallet connect. Confirm phone OTP, upload a passport, national ID, or driver license, then take a liveness selfie that matches the ID name and fill in the issuer questionnaire with your real address.
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Wait for KYC approval
Most applicants clear the same day, but some wait one to three business days. Check the official help article for your country first, since blocked countries and US states cannot pass this step.
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Fund your vault
Send a supported crypto asset on a supported chain (Optimism is the core chain, with Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, and HyperEVM as top up options) to the address shown in the live deposit screen. Always confirm token, chain, and address there, because sending the wrong token on the wrong chain can lock your funds.
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Pick Direct Pay or Borrow Mode
Choose Direct Pay to spend USDC or LiquidUSD straight from your vault with no interest, or turn on Borrow Mode to post collateral like weETH or wETH and spend borrowed USDC or EURC. Borrow Mode starts charging interest right away and can freeze spending or trigger liquidation if collateral value drops, so know your LTV before you use it.
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Add your virtual card
Create a virtual card, which is ready right after KYC and funding, and load it into Apple Pay or Google Pay. Make a small test purchase before you rely on the card for anything bigger.
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Order a physical card
Once your test purchase goes through, order a physical card if you want one. Core tier often charges a refundable deposit or fee around 40 to 50 USD, while higher tiers usually include a free physical card.
Ether Fi Card Demo video
Ether Fi Card Screenshots
Ether Fi Card User Reviews
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After using it as my main card for the past few weeks, @ether_fi Cash has been really great.
View on X ↗
Real borrow and pay (good tax optimization)
Can use EUR vault as collateral with good yield
Now supports tokenized stocks as collateral, allowing me more portfolio diversity
AI friendly, my agents use etherfi to buy my mom's groceries every week, when I need some stuff, I just drop a message to hermes on tg "buy me this" and it's in front of my door the next day.
I heard they're working on a real API and MCP to be released soon.
Right now, because they allow virtual cards with limits set for each card, I just gave my agents a card with a small daily spend limit, and it works great. -
i love blasting my https://www.ether.fi/ card everywhere, and shilling it to everyone. makes crypto fun again.
View on X ↗ -
tried the etherfi card
the good:
3% cashback with the default (free) card (in $SCR)
free crypto deposits from several chains
earn 13% in liquid USD/ETH and spend from your interest bearing balance
borrow mode where you open a credit line against your crypto collateral at 4% interest when you spend
the bad:
few hiccups during sign-up
1% fx rate when you spend abroad in non US currencies
overall pretty solid product and excited to see where this goes
props to @MikeSilagadze for thinking outside the box as to how a defi protocol can evolve
Ether Fi Card Review
Pros
- Borrow Mode lets you spend against weETH or wETH without selling your ETH, and the collateral keeps earning protocol yield while it backs the loan.
- Core cashback runs 3 percent on the first 2000 USD of monthly spend, well above a typical 1 percent bank card rate.
- The vault is a smart contract you control, so ether.fi says it cannot move your assets without your say-so, unlike an exchange card that holds your float.
- Virtual cards go live the moment KYC clears and funding lands, and Apple Pay or Google Pay tokenization means fewer declines on foreign purchases.
- EUR spend is marketed at 0 percent FX in beta, and higher tiers push ether.fi's own FX margin toward 0 as well.
- Fiat to crypto conversion inside the app runs about 0.2 percent on many tiers, far cheaper than most exchange withdrawal fees.
- The card has a live payments book behind it, with roughly 70,000 active cards and 300,000 accounts moved to OP Mainnet as of April 2026, not just a landing page.
- No annual fee applies across all named tiers, and crypto deposits carry no platform fee beyond gas.
Cons
- Borrow Mode interest starts the moment you spend, with no grace period, near 4% APY.
- ATM withdrawals cost about 2% and are capped near 750 USD a day.
- The 3% cashback band shrinks fast on Core, dropping to 0.5% once you pass roughly 2000 USD a month.
- There is no FDIC-style protection, and the advertised 500,000 USD balance insurance is not live yet.
- A physical Core card runs 40 to 50 USD, and help pages disagree on whether it is a fee or a refundable deposit.
- Falling collateral value in Borrow Mode can freeze spending and trigger liquidation through the lending market.
- Withdraw routes are narrower than deposit routes, so sending the wrong token on the wrong chain can lock your funds.
- Trustpilot reviews mention KYC stalls, missing physical cards, and disputed promo payouts.
Our verdict
The Ether.Fi Card is worth it if you already hold ETH or restaked ETH and hate selling it. Borrow Mode lets you spend against collateral while it keeps earning yield, and that alone justifies the app for many people. But the real cost adds up fast: 4 percent APY starts the moment you borrow, ATM withdrawals run about 2 percent with a 750 USD daily cap, and foreign spend can hit close to 1.7 percent once Visa's own margin stacks with ether.fi's cut. The 3 percent cashback only applies to the first 2,000 USD a month on Core, then drops to 1 percent, so do not budget your whole spend around that headline number. I would carry this as a secondary card for USD or EUR spend funded through Direct Pay, not as my only card, and not if I needed regular ATM cash. I would reconsider if ether.fi published clearer, consistent fee pages (the FX and cashback terms shift between help articles) and if KYC and support delays, which reviewers keep flagging, actually got fixed.
Ether Fi funding
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Founded by Mike Silagadze founded ether.fi and previously founded the education company Top Hat.
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Seed - Feb-Mar 2023 ether.fi raised 5.3 million USD in a seed round led by North Island Ventures and Chapter One.
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Late 2023 SAFE plus Series A - Feb-Mar 2024 ether.fi raised 27 million USD in a round led by Bullish and CoinFund.
Is Ether Fi Card safe & legit?
Ether.fi Cash is legit, but "safe" depends on what you compare it to. The card is built by ether.fi, a Cayman-based liquid restaking company founded by Mike Silagadze, backed by investors like North Island Ventures, Bullish, and CoinFund, and issued through a licensed money transmitter partner (commonly named as Third National), not a US bank. Your balance sits in a non-custodial smart contract vault that ether.fi says it cannot move without your authorization, which is a real difference from exchange cards that hold your funds directly, though you're still trusting the vault code and card logic.
The known risks aren't hidden: smart contract risk, liquidation risk if you use Borrow Mode against ETH collateral, KYC and support delays some users report, and no FDIC-style insurance on the vault itself (the advertised $500,000 coverage isn't live yet). None of that means the card is fake. It has real spend volume, coverage from outlets like CoinDesk and The Block, and a working product used by thousands. Just go in knowing this is DeFi infrastructure with a Visa sticker, not a bank account with a crypto skin.
X account intel @ether_fi
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Based in Cayman Islands
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Joined X January 2023 3 years ago
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Username changes 1 rename last on Jan 24, 2023
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Signup source Web
Public profile signals from X. Use as one input alongside other due-diligence.
Ether Fi Card Updates
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Fun fact from August: two people tapped their EtherFi card for over $500K
Don't know what for but we hope it was fun
- 19 replies
- 6 reposts
- 218 likes
- 13.8K views
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Why stake ETH on EtherFi?
A thread for people who haven't yet and keep asking
Short answer: your ETH earns rewards, stays liquid, stays yours, and works across DeFi
Here's the longer version 👇2 more in this thread
@aave @Morpho @eulerfinance @SteakhouseFi And if you want more than staking rewards, everything connects
→ Deposit weETH into Liquid vaults for automated DeFi strategies
→ Use it as collateral on the Cash card to spend without selling
→ Borrow against it at 4% instead of selling and triggering capital gains@aave @Morpho @eulerfinance @SteakhouseFi Your ETH earns more here
It stays liquid
It stays non-custodial
And it plugs into a full financial stack that lets you earn, spend, borrow, and bank without ever selling
Stake here:
https://www.ether.fi/stake- 24 replies
- 19 reposts
- 258 likes
- 23.3K views
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$800M in total spend on EtherFi
On to $1B now
- 18 replies
- 16 reposts
- 249 likes
- 13.3K views
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3 transactions. $1.1M.
What did this person buy?
Wrong answers only 👀- 60 replies
- 19 reposts
- 251 likes
- 35K views
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$5M daily volume on EtherFi Cash.
Tens of thousands of you.
We've got more coming. Way more.- 16 replies
- 16 reposts
- 225 likes
- 19.7K views
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August numbers are in.
+158,662 ETH staked
$5.23B TVL
110,528 weETH on 18 chains
Summer slowdown where 👀
1 more in this thread
Stake:
https://www.ether.fi/app/cash/earn/weeth- 17 replies
- 23 reposts
- 266 likes
- 21.5K views
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3 things a self-custodial DeFi bank can do that a traditional fintech can't:
Lower costs. Better rewards. More flexibility.- 22 replies
- 13 reposts
- 195 likes
- 10.8K views
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Stake
Restake
Earn
Borrow
Spend
Save
Send
All non-custodial. All in one app.
EtherFi- 34 replies
- 21 reposts
- 318 likes
- 15K views
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30+ currencies. 20 networks. 15+ payment rails.
And we aren’t planning on slowing down.
- 53 replies
- 33 reposts
- 462 likes
- 30.1K views
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Would 100% walk into this
- 32 replies
- 12 reposts
- 212 likes
- 12K views
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See you soon Korea! 👀🇰🇷
- 16 replies
- 10 reposts
- 115 likes
- 10.9K views
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Summer's over. Here's what shipped:
> tokenized stocks & metals trading via @xStocksFi
> new dedicated @aave market on @Optimism that crossed $100M in its first week
> Liquid Vaults are now live on @BinanceWallet
> EtherFi Borrow
> new on- and off-ramps that support 30+ new currencies and payment methods
> Liquid RWA vault went live and then got a cap increase to $35M
> partnered with @NexusMutual to provide the largest ETH slashing cover in crypto history
> weETH got an A+ rating from @CredoraNetwork
> custom Affiliate Cards went live
> Liquid vaults hit $340M+
> major weETH hardening, creating the market standard
> took all restaking exposure away from weETH and moved it to weETHs
> hit 100,000 cardholders
> reached 10M+ transactions
> sending native BTC and borrowing against it
> website and app refresh
Autumn's looking even better 🍂- 35 replies
- 26 reposts
- 313 likes
- 29.1K views
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EtherFi Cash hit 10,000,000 transactions!
Not a crypto card. THE card. The daily driver.
- 46 replies
- 20 reposts
- 372 likes
- 26K views
Ether Fi Card Reviews & Comments
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