Coinbase One Card

Rewards by category

Our take

The Coinbase One Card earns 2% back on everything, uncapped, paid out in bitcoin — a Cardless program issued by First Electronic Bank on the American Express network, with a $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. The catch arrives before the card does: even that base 2% requires an active paid Coinbase One membership, and the cheapest way in is the Basic plan at $49.99 per year (Basic qualifies only on the annual plan). Cancel the membership and the card account may be closed. Call it what it is — a 2% card with a $49.99 cover charge.

The advertised ceiling is higher, but it gates on your balance, not your subscription. Park $10,000 to $50,000 in Assets on Coinbase and the rate rises to 2.5%; $50,000 to $200,000 gets 3.0%; $200,000 and up gets 4.0%. Each boosted rate applies only to the first $10,000 in purchases per calendar month, then everything drops back to 2.0%. Four percent on $10,000 of monthly spend is genuinely serious money — but it depends on how much crypto you keep at Coinbase, which is unknowable at swipe time. That is why we rank the uncapped 2% floor and treat the tiers as holder-specific upside.

Rewards come in bitcoin only — you do not pick the asset, unlike Gemini's card. Our valuation policy is blunt: crypto rewards are valued at the cash amount at the moment of earning, and we never forecast what the asset does afterwards — the volatility is your ride, up or down. Two smaller notes: booking flights, hotels or rental cars through Coinbase One Card Travel pays 5% bitcoin back outside the tier caps, and this is an American Express card, so expect gaps where Amex isn't taken — Costco being the famous one.

In a wallet, the math splits cleanly. If you already pay for Coinbase One, this is a fine everything-card: let bonus-category cards take groceries, dining and gas, and point the long tail of spend here to stack bitcoin at 2% or better. If you would be buying the membership just for the card, the $49.99 fee eats the edge over a free flat 2% card — you would need real tier-level balances and spend to claw it back.

The math

Run $250 a month of flights through this card and you're earning about $150 a year at our conservative valuations. There's no annual fee to earn back — everything above the 2% base rate is pure upside.

Where it lands in our rankings: #2 for flights

Key benefits

• Rewards paid in bitcoin to your Coinbase wallet
• No foreign transaction fees
• American Express network benefits

Common questions

Does Coinbase One Card have an annual fee?

No — Coinbase One Card has no annual fee.

What does Coinbase One Card earn on flights?

5% on flights (requires coinbase one; book via coinbase one card travel).

What rewards does Coinbase One Card earn on everything else?

2% on all other purchases, in Coinbase Bitcoin Back.

Do I need a Coinbase One membership to keep this card?

Yes. The card requires an active paid Coinbase One membership — the Basic plan qualifies only on the $49.99 annual option — and if you cancel the membership, the card account may be closed. Treat that $49.99 per year as the card's real annual fee.

How do I earn more than 2% back?

The higher tiers gate on Assets on Coinbase, not your subscription level: 2.5% with $10,000–$50,000 held, 3.0% with $50,000–$200,000, and 4.0% at $200,000 or more. Each boosted rate covers only your first $10,000 in purchases per calendar month, then reverts to 2.0%. Separately, flights, hotels and rental cars booked through Coinbase One Card Travel earn 5% bitcoin back outside those caps.

Can I choose which cryptocurrency I earn?

No — rewards are paid in bitcoin only; the holder does not pick the asset. We value crypto rewards at their cash amount at the moment of earning and never forecast what bitcoin does afterwards; whatever the price does from there is your ride, up or down.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.